On the origin of the hump structure in the in-plane optical conductivity of high Tc cuprates based on a SU(2) slave-boson theory

An improved version of SU(2) slave-boson approach is applied to study the in-plane optical conductivity of the two dimensional systems of high Tc cuprates. We investigate the role of fluctuations of both the phase and amplitude of order parameters on the (Drude) peak-dip-hump structure in the in-plane conductivity as a function of hole doping concentration and temperature. The mid-infrared(MIR) hump in the in-plane optical conductivity is shown to originate from the antiferromagnetic spin fluctuations of short range(the amplitude fluctuations of spin singlet pairing order parameters), which is consistent with our previous U(1) study. However the inclusion of both the phase and amplitude fluctuations is shown to substantially improve the qualitative feature of the optical conductivity by showing substantially reduced Drude peak widths for entire doping range. Both the shift of the hump position to lower frequency and the growth of the hump peak height with increasing hole concentration is shown to be consistent with observations.Comment: 7 pages, 6 figure

Ru-Catalyzed, cis-Selective Living Ring-Opening Metathesis Polymerization of Various Monomers, Including a Dendronized Macromonomer, and Implications to Enhanced Shear Stability

An unsaturated polymer’s cis/trans-olefin content has a significant influence on its properties. For polymers obtained by ring-opening metathesis polymerization (ROMP), the cis/trans-olefin content can be tuned by using specific catalysts. However, cis-selective ROMP has suffered from narrow monomer scope and lack of control over the polymerization (giving polymers with broad molecular weight distributions and prohibiting the synthesis of block copolymers). Herein, we report the versatile cis-selective controlled living ROMP of various endo-tricyclo[4.2.2.0^(2,5)]deca-3,9-diene and various norbornene derivatives using a fast-initiating dithiolate-chelated Ru catalyst. Polymers with cis-olefin content as high as 99% could be obtained with high molecular weight (up to M_n of 105.1 kDa) and narrow dispersity (<1.4). The living nature of the polymerization was also exploited to prepare block copolymers with high cis-olefin content for the first time. Furthermore, owing to the successful control over the stereochemistry and narrow dispersity, we could compare cis- and trans-rich polynorbornene and found the former to have enhanced resistance to shear degradation

Precise Complexity of the Core in Dichotomous and Additive Hedonic Games

Hedonic games provide a general model of coalition formation, in which a set of agents is partitioned into coalitions, with each agent having preferences over which other players are in her coalition. We prove that with additively separable preferences, it is $\Sigma_2^p$-complete to decide whether a core- or strict-core-stable partition exists, extending a result of Woeginger (2013). Our result holds even if valuations are symmetric and non-zero only for a constant number of other agents. We also establish $\Sigma_2^p$-completeness of deciding non-emptiness of the strict core for hedonic games with dichotomous preferences. Such results establish that the core is much less tractable than solution concepts such as individual stability.Comment: ADT-2017, 15 pages in LNCS styl

Elevated fasting insulin predicts the future incidence of metabolic syndrome: a 5-year follow-up study

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>There is controversy about the specific pathophysiology of metabolic syndrome (MS) but several authors have argued that hyperinsulinemia is a key feature of the cluster. We aimed to assess whether the baseline insulin levels could predict the development of MS in a well characterised cohort of otherwise healthy adults who were followed over a five year period.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>We identified 2, 350 Koreans subjects who did not have MS in 2003 and who were followed up in 2008. The subjects were divided into 4 groups according to the baseline quartiles of fasting insulin, and the predictors of the incidence of MS were analyzed using multivariate regression analysis.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Over the follow up period, 8.5% of the cohort developed MS. However, 16.4% of the subjects in the highest quartile of the insulin levels developed MS. In a model that included gender, age, the smoking status, the exercise level, alcohol consumption and the systolic blood pressure, the subjects in the highest quartile of the insulin levels had more than a 5 times greater risk of developing MS compared that of the subjects in the lowest quartile. This predictive importance remained significant even after correcting for all the individual features of MS.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>These data suggest that high baseline fasting insulin levels are independent determinants for the future development of MS.</p

The Protein Kinase C Inhibitor Aeb071 (Sotrastaurin) Modulates Migration and Superoxide Anion Production by Human Neutrophils In Vitro

We examined the effect of the protein kinase C-selective inhibitor AEB071 (sotrastaurin) on neutrophil functions in vitro. Pre-incubation with AEB071 at concentrations similar to those reached during in vivo therapy significantly reduced cell capacity to migrate toward three different chemo-attractants and to produce superoxide anions (O2) in response to phorbol myristate acetate (PMA) or to iV-formyl-methionyl-leucyl-phenylalanine (fMLP). AEB071 also significantly inhibited the O−2 "overproduction induced by fMLP in neutrophils primed with tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α) or granulocyte/macrophage-colony stimulating factor (GM-CSF). This inhibition was not linked to fMLP-receptor down-regulation since the drug had no effect on either fMLP-receptors or fMLP-induced CD11b membrane expression. When the activity of AEB071 was compared to that of the conventional protein kinase C (PKC) inhibitor Gö6850 (which, like sotrastaurin, inhibits classical and novel PKC isoforms), Gö6976 (an inhibitor of α and β PKC isoforms) and rottlerin (a prevailing δ PKC isoform inhibitor), AEB071 at an equimolar concentration of 3 μM (close to the maximum drug concentration reached in patients treated with AEB071) caused significantly more inhibition on both chemotactic response and superoxide production. These in vitro findings suggest that neutrophils may offer a cellular target for AEB071 activity in vivo

Turbulence in Focus: Benchmarking Scaling Behavior of 3D Volumetric Super-Resolution with BLASTNet 2.0 Data

Analysis of compressible turbulent flows is essential for applications related to propulsion, energy generation, and the environment. Here, we present BLASTNet 2.0, a 2.2 TB network-of-datasets containing 744 full-domain samples from 34 high-fidelity direct numerical simulations, which addresses the current limited availability of 3D high-fidelity reacting and non-reacting compressible turbulent flow simulation data. With this data, we benchmark a total of 49 variations of five deep learning approaches for 3D super-resolution - which can be applied for improving scientific imaging, simulations, turbulence models, as well as in computer vision applications. We perform neural scaling analysis on these models to examine the performance of different machine learning (ML) approaches, including two scientific ML techniques. We demonstrate that (i) predictive performance can scale with model size and cost, (ii) architecture matters significantly, especially for smaller models, and (iii) the benefits of physics-based losses can persist with increasing model size. The outcomes of this benchmark study are anticipated to offer insights that can aid the design of 3D super-resolution models, especially for turbulence models, while this data is expected to foster ML methods for a broad range of flow physics applications. This data is publicly available with download links and browsing tools consolidated at https://blastnet.github.io.Comment: Accepted in Advances in Neural Information Processing Systems 36 (NeurIPS 2023). 55 pages, 21 figures. v2: Corrected co-author name. Keywords: Super-resolution, 3D, Neural Scaling, Physics-informed Loss, Computational Fluid Dynamics, Partial Differential Equations, Turbulent Reacting Flows, Direct Numerical Simulation, Fluid Mechanics, Combustio

Shortening of primary cilia length is associated with urine concentration in the kidneys

Background The primary cilium, a microtubule-based cellular organelle present in certain kidney cells, functions as a mechano-sensor to monitor fluid flow in addition to various other biological functions. In kidneys, the primary cilia protrude into the tubular lumen and are directly exposed to pro-urine flow and components. However, their effects on urine concentration remain to be defined. Here, we investigated the association between primary cilia and urine concentration. Methods Mice either had free access to water (normal water intake, NWI) or were not allowed access to water (water deprivation, WD). Some mice received tubastatin, an inhibitor of histone deacetylase 6 (HDAC6), which regulates the acetylation of α-tubulin, a core protein of microtubules. Results WD decreased urine output and increased urine osmolality, concomitant with apical plasma membrane localization of aquaporin 2 (AQP2) in the kidney. After WD, compared with after NWI, the lengths of primary cilia in renal tubular epithelial cells were shortened and HDAC6 activity increased. WD induced deacetylation of α-tubulin without altering α-tubulin levels in the kidney. Tubastatin prevented the shortening of cilia through increasing HDAC6 activity and consequently increasing acetylated α-tubulin expression. Furthermore, tubastatin prevented the WD-induced reduction of urine output, urine osmolality increase, and apical plasma membrane localization of AQP2. Conclusions WD shortens primary cilia length through HDAC6 activation and α-tubulin deacetylation, while HDAC6 inhibition blocks the WD-induced changes in cilia length and urine output. This suggests that cilia length alterations are involved, at least in part, in the regulation of body water balance and urine concentration

The highly rearranged mitochondrial genomes of the crabs Maja crispata and Maja squinado (Majidae) and gene order evolution in Brachyura

Abstract We sequenced the mitochondrial genomes of the spider crabs Maja crispata and Maja squinado (Majidae, Brachyura). Both genomes contain the whole set of 37 genes characteristic of Bilaterian genomes, encoded on both \u3b1- and \u3b2-strands. Both species exhibit the same gene order, which is unique among known animal genomes. In particular, all the genes located on the \u3b2-strand form a single block. This gene order was analysed together with the other nine gene orders known for the Brachyura. Our study confirms that the most widespread gene order (BraGO) represents the plesiomorphic condition for Brachyura and was established at the onset of this clade. All other gene orders are the result of transformational pathways originating from BraGO. The different gene orders exhibit variable levels of genes rearrangements, which involve only tRNAs or all types of genes. Local homoplastic arrangements were identified, while complete gene orders remain unique and represent signatures that can have a diagnostic value. Brachyura appear to be a hot-spot of gene order diversity within the phylum Arthropoda. Our analysis, allowed to track, for the first time, the fully evolutionary pathways producing the Brachyuran gene orders. This goal was achieved by coupling sophisticated bioinformatic tools with phylogenetic analysis