Anisotropic optical and magnetic response in self-assembled TiN-CoFe\u3csub\u3e2\u3c/sub\u3e nanocomposites

Transition metal nitrides (e.g., TiN) have shown tremendous promise in optical metamaterials for nanophotonic devices due to their plasmonic properties comparable to noble metals and superior high temperature stability. Vertically aligned nanocomposites (VANs) offer a great platform for combining two dissimilar functional materials with a one-step deposition technique toward multifunctionality integration and strong structural/property anisotropy. Here we report a two-phase nanocomposite design combining ferromagnetic CoFe2 nanosheets in the plasmonic TiN matrix as a new hybrid plasmonic metamaterial. The hybrid metamaterials exhibit obvious anisotropic optical and magnetic responses, as well as a pronounced magneto-optical coupling response evidenced by MOKE measurement, owing to the novel vertically aligned structure. This work demonstrates a new TiN-based metamaterial with anisotropic properties and multi-functionality towards optical switchable spintronics, magnetic sensors and integrated optic

Regularization of point vortices for the Euler equation in dimension two

In this paper, we construct stationary classical solutions of the incompressible Euler equation approximating singular stationary solutions of this equation. This procedure is carried out by constructing solutions to the following elliptic problem [ -\ep^2 \Delta u=(u-q-\frac{\kappa}{2\pi}\ln\frac{1}{\ep})_+^p, \quad & x\in\Omega, u=0, \quad & x\in\partial\Omega, ] where $p>1$, $\Omega\subset\mathbb{R}^2$ is a bounded domain, $q$ is a harmonic function. We showed that if $\Omega$ is simply-connected smooth domain, then for any given non-degenerate critical point of Kirchhoff-Routh function $\mathcal{W}(x_1,...,x_m)$ with the same strength $\kappa>0$, there is a stationary classical solution approximating stationary $m$ points vortex solution of incompressible Euler equations with vorticity $m\kappa$. Existence and asymptotic behavior of single point non-vanishing vortex solutions were studied by D. Smets and J. Van Schaftingen (2010).Comment: 32page

Classification and nondegeneracy of SU(n+1)SU(n+1) Toda system with singular sources

We consider the following Toda system \Delta u_i + \D \sum_{j = 1}^n a_{ij}e^{u_j} = 4\pi\gamma_{i}\delta_{0} \text{in}\mathbb R^2, \int_{\mathbb R^2}e^{u_i} dx -1$,$\delta_0$is Dirac measure at 0, and the coefficients$a_{ij}$form the standard tri-diagonal Cartan matrix. In this paper, (i) we completely classify the solutions and obtain the quantization result:$$\sum_{j=1}^n a_{ij}\int_{\R^2}e^{u_j} dx = 4\pi (2+\gamma_i+\gamma_{n+1-i}), \;\;\forall\; 1\leq i \leq n.$$This generalizes the classification result by Jost and Wang for$\gamma_i=0$,$\forall \;1\leq i\leq n$. (ii) We prove that if$\gamma_i+\gamma_{i+1}+...+\gamma_j \notin \mathbb Z$for all$1\leq i\leq j\leq n$, then any solution$u_i$ is \textit{radially symmetric} w.r.t. 0. (iii) We prove that the linearized equation at any solution is \textit{non-degenerate}. These are fundamental results in order to understand the bubbling behavior of the Toda system.Comment: 28 page

Constraining Type Ia supernova models: SN 2011fe as a test case

The nearby supernova SN 2011fe can be observed in unprecedented detail. Therefore, it is an important test case for Type Ia supernova (SN Ia) models, which may bring us closer to understanding the physical nature of these objects. Here, we explore how available and expected future observations of SN 2011fe can be used to constrain SN Ia explosion scenarios. We base our discussion on three-dimensional simulations of a delayed detonation in a Chandrasekhar-mass white dwarf and of a violent merger of two white dwarfs-realizations of explosion models appropriate for two of the most widely-discussed progenitor channels that may give rise to SNe Ia. Although both models have their shortcomings in reproducing details of the early and near-maximum spectra of SN 2011fe obtained by the Nearby Supernova Factory (SNfactory), the overall match with the observations is reasonable. The level of agreement is slightly better for the merger, in particular around maximum, but a clear preference for one model over the other is still not justified. Observations at late epochs, however, hold promise for discriminating the explosion scenarios in a straightforward way, as a nucleosynthesis effect leads to differences in the 55Co production. SN 2011fe is close enough to be followed sufficiently long to study this effect.Comment: Accepted for publication in The Astrophysical Journal Letter

Genetic Variants at 1p11.2 and Breast Cancer Risk: A Two-Stage Study in Chinese Women

BACKGROUND: Genome-wide association studies (GWAS) have identified several breast cancer susceptibility loci, and one genetic variant, rs11249433, at 1p11.2 was reported to be associated with breast cancer in European populations. To explore the genetic variants in this region associated with breast cancer in Chinese women, we conducted a two-stage fine-mapping study with a total of 1792 breast cancer cases and 1867 controls. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: Seven single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) including rs11249433 in a 277 kb region at 1p11.2 were selected and genotyping was performed by using TaqMan® OpenArray™ Genotyping System for stage 1 samples (878 cases and 900 controls). In stage 2 (914 cases and 967 controls), three SNPs (rs2580520, rs4844616 and rs11249433) were further selected and genotyped for validation. The results showed that one SNP (rs2580520) located at a predicted enhancer region of SRGAP2 was consistently associated with a significantly increased risk of breast cancer in a recessive genetic model [Odds Ratio (OR)  =  1.66, 95% confidence interval (CI)  =  1.16-2.36 for stage 2 samples; OR  =  1.51, 95% CI  =  1.16-1.97 for combined samples, respectively]. However, no significant association was observed between rs11249433 and breast cancer risk in this Chinese population (dominant genetic model in combined samples: OR  =  1.20, 95% CI  =  0.92-1.57). CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: Genotypes of rs2580520 at 1p11.2 suggest that Chinese women may have different breast cancer susceptibility loci, which may contribute to the development of breast cancer in this population

Early Second-Trimester Serum MiRNA Profiling Predicts Gestational Diabetes Mellitus

BACKGROUND: Gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) is one type of diabetes that presents during pregnancy and significantly increases the risk of a number of adverse consequences for the fetus and mother. The microRNAs (miRNA) have recently been demonstrated to abundantly and stably exist in serum and to be potentially disease-specific. However, no reported study investigates the associations between serum miRNA and GDM. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: We systematically used the TaqMan Low Density Array followed by individual quantitative reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction assays to screen miRNAs in serum collected at 16-19 gestational weeks. The expression levels of three miRNAs (miR-132, miR-29a and miR-222) were significantly decreased in GDM women with respect to the controls in similar gestational weeks in our discovery evaluation and internal validation, and two miRNAs (miR-29a and miR-222) were also consistently validated in two-centric external validation sample sets. In addition, the knockdown of miR-29a could increase Insulin-induced gene 1 (Insig1) expression level and subsequently the level of Phosphoenolpyruvate Carboxy Kinase2 (PCK2) in HepG2 cell lines. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: Serum miRNAs are differentially expressed between GDM women and controls and could be candidate biomarkers for predicting GDM. The utility of miR-29a, miR-222 and miR-132 as serum-based non-invasive biomarkers warrants further evaluation and optimization

Large-scale association analysis identifies new lung cancer susceptibility loci and heterogeneity in genetic susceptibility across histological subtypes.

Although several lung cancer susceptibility loci have been identified, much of the heritability for lung cancer remains unexplained. Here 14,803 cases and 12,262 controls of European descent were genotyped on the OncoArray and combined with existing data for an aggregated genome-wide association study (GWAS) analysis of lung cancer in 29,266 cases and 56,450 controls. We identified 18 susceptibility loci achieving genome-wide significance, including 10 new loci. The new loci highlight the striking heterogeneity in genetic susceptibility across the histological subtypes of lung cancer, with four loci associated with lung cancer overall and six loci associated with lung adenocarcinoma. Gene expression quantitative trait locus (eQTL) analysis in 1,425 normal lung tissue samples highlights RNASET2, SECISBP2L and NRG1 as candidate genes. Other loci include genes such as a cholinergic nicotinic receptor, CHRNA2, and the telomere-related genes OFBC1 and RTEL1. Further exploration of the target genes will continue to provide new insights into the etiology of lung cancer

Genome-wide association study of lung adenocarcinoma in East Asia and comparison with a European population

Lung adenocarcinoma is the most common type of lung cancer. Known risk variants explain only a small fraction of lung adenocarcinoma heritability. Here, we conducted a two-stage genome-wide association study of lung adenocarcinoma of East Asian ancestry (21,658 cases and 150,676 controls; 54.5% never-smokers) and identified 12 novel susceptibility variants, bringing the total number to 28 at 25 independent loci. Transcriptome-wide association analyses together with colocalization studies using a Taiwanese lung expression quantitative trait loci dataset (n = 115) identified novel candidate genes, including FADS1 at 11q12 and ELF5 at 11p13. In a multi-ancestry meta-analysis of East Asian and European studies, four loci were identified at 2p11, 4q32, 16q23, and 18q12. At the same time, most of our findings in East Asian populations showed no evidence of association in European populations. In our studies drawn from East Asian populations, a polygenic risk score based on the 25 loci had a stronger association in never-smokers vs. individuals with a history of smoking (P interaction  = 0.0058). These findings provide new insights into the etiology of lung adenocarcinoma in individuals from East Asian populations, which could be important in developing translational applications

Genome-wide association study of lung adenocarcinoma in East Asia and comparison with a European population.

Lung adenocarcinoma is the most common type of lung cancer. Known risk variants explain only a small fraction of lung adenocarcinoma heritability. Here, we conducted a two-stage genome-wide association study of lung adenocarcinoma of East Asian ancestry (21,658 cases and 150,676 controls; 54.5% never-smokers) and identified 12 novel susceptibility variants, bringing the total number to 28 at 25 independent loci. Transcriptome-wide association analyses together with colocalization studies using a Taiwanese lung expression quantitative trait loci dataset (n = 115) identified novel candidate genes, including FADS1 at 11q12 and ELF5 at 11p13. In a multi-ancestry meta-analysis of East Asian and European studies, four loci were identified at 2p11, 4q32, 16q23, and 18q12. At the same time, most of our findings in East Asian populations showed no evidence of association in European populations. In our studies drawn from East Asian populations, a polygenic risk score based on the 25 loci had a stronger association in never-smokers vs. individuals with a history of smoking (Pinteraction = 0.0058). These findings provide new insights into the etiology of lung adenocarcinoma in individuals from East Asian populations, which could be important in developing translational applications