The Erdős-Ko-Rado properties of various graphs containing singletons

Let G=(V,E) be a graph. For r≥1, let be the family of independent vertex r-sets of G. For vV(G), let denote the star . G is said to be r-EKR if there exists vV(G) such that for any non-star family of pair-wise intersecting sets in . If the inequality is strict, then G is strictly r-EKR. Let Γ be the family of graphs that are disjoint unions of complete graphs, paths, cycles, including at least one singleton. Holroyd, Spencer and Talbot proved that, if GΓ and 2r is no larger than the number of connected components of G, then G is r-EKR. However, Holroyd and Talbot conjectured that, if G is any graph and 2r is no larger than μ(G), the size of a smallest maximal independent vertex set of G, then G is r-EKR, and strictly so if 2r<μ(G). We show that in fact, if GΓ and 2r is no larger than the independence number of G, then G is r-EKR; we do this by proving the result for all graphs that are in a suitable larger set Γ′Γ. We also confirm the conjecture for graphs in an even larger set Γ″Γ′

Unusual photoemission resonances of oxygen-dopant induced states in Bi2_{2}Sr2_2CaCu2_2O8+x_{8+x}

We have performed an angular-resolved photoemission study of underdoped, optimally doped and overdoped Bi$_{2}$Sr$_2$CaCu$_2$O$_{8+x}$ samples using a wide photon energy range (15 - 100 eV). We report a small and broad non-dispersive A$_{1g}$ peak in the energy distribution curves whose intensity scales with doping. We attribute it to a local impurity state similar to the one observed recently by scanning tunneling spectroscopy and identified as the oxygen dopants. Detailed analysis of the resonance profile and comparison with the single-layered Bi$_{2}$Sr$_2$CuO$_{6+x}$ suggest a mixing of this local state with Cu via the apical oxygens.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figure

Potentially inappropriate medication in older participants of the Berlin Aging Study II (BASE-II) - Sex differences and associations with morbidity and medication use

INTRODUCTION: Multimorbidity in advanced age and the need for drug treatment may lead to polypharmacy, while pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic changes may increase the risk of adverse drug events (ADEs). OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to determine the proportion of subjects using potentially inappropriate medication (PIM) in a cohort of older and predominantly healthy adults in relation to polypharmacy and morbidity. METHODS: Cross-sectional data were available from 1,382 study participants (median age 69 years, IQR 67-71, 51.3% females) of the Berlin Aging Study II (BASE-II). PIM was classified according to the EU(7)-PIM and German PRISCUS (representing a subset of the former) list. Polypharmacy was defined as the concomitant use of at least five drugs. A morbidity index (MI) largely based on the Charlson Index was applied to evaluate the morbidity burden. RESULTS: Overall, 24.1% of the participants were affected by polypharmacy. On average, men used 2 (IQR 1-4) and women 3 drugs (IQR 1-5). According to PRISCUS and EU(7)-PIM, 5.9% and 22.6% of participants received at least one PIM, while use was significantly more prevalent in females (25.5%) compared to males (19.6%) considering EU(7)-PIM (p = 0.01). In addition, morbidity in males receiving PIM according to EU(7)-PIM was higher (median MI 1, IQR 1-3) compared to males without PIM use (median MI 1, IQR 0-2, p<0.001). CONCLUSION: PIM use occurred more frequently in women than in men, while it was associated with higher morbidity in males. As expected, EU(7)-PIM identifies more subjects as PIM users than the PRISCUS list but further studies are needed to investigate the differential impact of both lists on ADEs and outcome. KEY POINTS: We found PIM use to be associated with a higher number of regular medications and with increased morbidity. Additionally, we detected a higher prevalence of PIM use in females compared to males, suggesting that women and people needing intensive drug treatment are patient groups, who are particularly affected by PIM use

Viral Load, Clinical Disease Severity and Cellular Immune Responses in Primary Varicella Zoster Virus Infection in Sri Lanka

BACKGROUND: In Sri Lanka, varicella zoster virus (VZV) is typically acquired during adulthood with significant associated disease morbidity and mortality. T cells are believed to be important in the control of VZV replication and in the prevention of reactivation. The relationship between viral load, disease severity and cellular immune responses in primary VZV infection has not been well studied. METHODOLOGY: We used IFNgamma ELISpot assays and MHC class II tetramers based on VZV gE and IE63 epitopes, together with quantitative real time PCR assays to compare the frequency and phenotype of specific T cells with virological and clinical outcomes in 34 adult Sri Lankan individuals with primary VZV infection. PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: Viral loads were found to be significantly higher in patients with moderate to severe infection compared to those with mild infection (p&lt;0.001) and were significantly higher in those over 25 years of age (P&lt;0.01). A significant inverse correlation was seen between the viral loads and the ex vivo IFNgamma ELISpot responses of patients (P&lt;0.001, r = -0.85). VZV-specific CD4+ T cells expressed markers of intermediate differentiation and activation. CONCLUSIONS: Overall, these data show that increased clinical severity in Sri Lankan adults with primary VZV infection associates with higher viral load and reduced viral specific T cell responses

A Significant but Rather Mild Contribution of T286 Autophosphorylation to Ca2+/CaM-Stimulated CaMKII Activity

Autophosphorylation of the Ca(2+)/calmodulin (CaM)-dependent protein kinase II (CaMKII) at T286 generates partially Ca(2+)/CaM-independent "autonomous" activity, which is thought to be required for long-term potentiation (LTP), a form of synaptic plasticity thought to underlie learning and memory. A requirement for T286 autophosphorylation also for efficient Ca(2+)/CaM-stimulated CaMKII activity has been described, but remains controversial.In order to determine the contribution of T286 autophosphorylation to Ca(2+)/CaM-stimulated CaMKII activity, the activity of CaMKII wild type and its phosphorylation-incompetent T286A mutant was compared. As the absolute activity can vary between individual kinase preparations, the activity was measured in six different extracts for each kinase (expressed in HEK-293 cells). Consistent with measurements on purified kinase (from a baculovirus/Sf9 cell expression system), CaMKII T286A showed a mildly but significantly reduced rate of Ca(2+)/CaM-stimulated phosphorylation for two different peptide substrates (to ~75-84% of wild type). Additional slower CaMKII autophosphorylation at T305/306 inhibits stimulation by Ca(2+)/CaM, but occurs only minimally for CaMKII wild type during CaM-stimulated activity assays. Thus, we tested if the T286A mutant may show more extensive inhibitory autophosphorylation, which could explain its reduced stimulated activity. By contrast, inhibitory autophosphorylation was instead found to be even further reduced for the T286A mutant under our assay conditions. On a side note, the phospho-T305 antibody showed some basal background immuno-reactivity also with non-phosphorylated CaMKII, as indicated by T305/306A mutants.These results indicate that Ca(2+)/CaM-stimulated CaMKII activity is mildly (~1.2-1.3fold) further increased by additional T286 autophosphorylation, but that this autophosphorylation is not required for the major part of the stimulated activity. This indicates that the phenotype of CaMKII T286A mutant mice is indeed due to the lack of autonomous activity, as the T286A mutant showed no dramatic reduction in stimulated activity

Do Large Dogs Die Young?

In most animal taxa, longevity increases with body size across species, as predicted by the oxidative stress theory of aging. In contrast, in within-species comparisons of mammals and especially domestic dogs (e.g. Patronek, 97; Michell, 99; Egenvall et al., 2000; Speakman et al, 2003) longevity decreases with body size. We explore two datasets for dogs and find support for a negative relationship between size and longevity if we consider variation across breeds. Within breeds, however, the relationship is not negative. The negative across-breed relationship is probably the consequence of short lifespans in large breeds. Artificial selection for extremely high growth rates in large breeds appears to have led to developmental diseases that seriously diminish longevity

Strongly Correlated Quantum Fluids: Ultracold Quantum Gases, Quantum Chromodynamic Plasmas, and Holographic Duality

Strongly correlated quantum fluids are phases of matter that are intrinsically quantum mechanical, and that do not have a simple description in terms of weakly interacting quasi-particles. Two systems that have recently attracted a great deal of interest are the quark-gluon plasma, a plasma of strongly interacting quarks and gluons produced in relativistic heavy ion collisions, and ultracold atomic Fermi gases, very dilute clouds of atomic gases confined in optical or magnetic traps. These systems differ by more than 20 orders of magnitude in temperature, but they were shown to exhibit very similar hydrodynamic flow. In particular, both fluids exhibit a robustly low shear viscosity to entropy density ratio which is characteristic of quantum fluids described by holographic duality, a mapping from strongly correlated quantum field theories to weakly curved higher dimensional classical gravity. This review explores the connection between these fields, and it also serves as an introduction to the Focus Issue of New Journal of Physics on Strongly Correlated Quantum Fluids: from Ultracold Quantum Gases to QCD Plasmas. The presentation is made accessible to the general physics reader and includes discussions of the latest research developments in all three areas.Comment: 138 pages, 25 figures, review associated with New Journal of Physics special issue "Focus on Strongly Correlated Quantum Fluids: from Ultracold Quantum Gases to QCD Plasmas" (http://iopscience.iop.org/1367-2630/focus/Focus%20on%20Strongly%20Correlated%20Quantum%20Fluids%20-%20from%20Ultracold%20Quantum%20Gases%20to%20QCD%20Plasmas

Fatal Disseminated Cryptococcus gattii Infection in New Mexico

We report a case of fatal disseminated infection with Cryptococcus gattii in a patient from New Mexico. The patient had no history of recent travel to known C. gattii-endemic areas. Multilocus sequence typing revealed that the isolate belonged to the major molecular type VGIII. Virulence studies in a mouse pulmonary model of infection demonstrated that the strain was less virulent than other C. gattii strains. This represents the first documented case of C. gattii likely acquired in New Mexico

The PhyloPythiaS Web Server for Taxonomic Assignment of Metagenome Sequences

Metagenome sequencing is becoming common and there is an increasing need for easily accessible tools for data analysis. An essential step is the taxonomic classification of sequence fragments. We describe a web server for the taxonomic assignment of metagenome sequences with PhyloPythiaS. PhyloPythiaS is a fast and accurate sequence composition-based classifier that utilizes the hierarchical relationships between clades. Taxonomic assignments with the web server can be made with a generic model, or with sample-specific models that users can specify and create. Several interactive visualization modes and multiple download formats allow quick and convenient analysis and downstream processing of taxonomic assignments. Here, we demonstrate usage of our web server by taxonomic assignment of metagenome samples from an acidophilic biofilm community of an acid mine and of a microbial community from cow rumen