422 research outputs found
The role of 39 psoriasis risk variants on age of psoriasis onset.
Recent genome-wide association studies (GWAS) have identified multiple genetic risk factors for psoriasis, but data on their association with age of onset have been marginally explored. The goal of this study was to evaluate known risk alleles of psoriasis for association with age of psoriasis onset in three well-defined case-only cohorts totaling 1,498 psoriasis patients. We selected 39 genetic variants from psoriasis GWAS and tested these variants for association with age of psoriasis onset in a meta-analysis. We found that rs10484554 and rs12191877 near HLA-C and rs17716942 near IFIH1 were associated with age of psoriasis onset with false discovery rate < 0.05. The association between rs17716942 and age of onset was not replicated in a fourth independent cohort of 489 patients (P = 0.94). The imputed HLA-C∗06:02 allele demonstrated a much stronger association with age of psoriasis onset than rs10484554 and rs12191877. We conclude that despite the discovery of numerous psoriasis risk alleles, HLA-C∗06:02 still plays the most important role in determining the age of onset of psoriasis. Larger studies are needed to evaluate the contribution of other risk alleles, including IFIH1, to age of psoriasis onset
``X-Ray Edge'' Singularities in Nanotubes and Quantum Wires with Multiple Subbands
Band theory predicts an inverse square root van Hove singularity in the
tunneling density of states at the minimum energy of an unoccupied subband in a
one-dimensional quantum wire. With interactions, an orthogonality catastrophe
analogous to the x-ray edge effect for core levels in a metal strongly reduces
this singularity by a power B of the energy above threshold, with B
approximately 0.3 for typical carbon nanotubes. Despite the anomalous tunneling
characteristic, good quasiparticles corresponding to the unoccupied subband
states do exist.Comment: 4 page
Transport of Surface States in the Bulk Quantum Hall Effect
The two-dimensional surface of a coupled multilayer integer quantum Hall
system consists of an anisotropic chiral metal. This unusual metal is
characterized by ballistic motion transverse and diffusive motion parallel
(\hat{z}) to the magnetic field. Employing a network model, we calculate
numerically the phase coherent two-terminal z-axis conductance and its
mesoscopic fluctuations. Quasi-1d localization effects are evident in the limit
of many layers. We consider the role of inelastic de-phasing effects in
modifying the transport of the chiral surface sheath, discussing their
importance in the recent experiments of Druist et al.Comment: 9 pages LaTex, 9 postscript figures included using eps
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The Application of High-Resolution Gamma-Ray Spectrometry (HRGS) to Nuclear Safeguards, Nonproliferation, and Arms Control Activities
While well-developed methodologies exist for the employment of high- resolution gamma ray spectrometry (HRGS) in determining the isotopic composition of plutonium samples, the potential capabilities of such measurements in determining the properties of nuclear materials otherwise remain largely unexploited. These measurements contain information sufficiently detailed such that not only can the isotopic composition of uranium and plutonium materials be determined, but the details of the spectrum obtained will depend reproducibly upon other factors including the total mass, density, chemical composition, and geometrical configuration of the material, and for certain materials, the elapsed time since chemical processing. The potential thus exists to obtain a `gamma-ray fingerprint` for typical containers or assemblies of nuclear material which will then serve to identify that class of item in a later confirmatory measurement. These measurements have the additional advantage that, by comparison with active interrogation techniques which usually require the introduction of some extraneous form of radiation or other intrusive activity, they are totally passive, and thus impose only minimal additional safety or regulatory burdens on the operators. In the application of these measurements to the verification of treaty-limited items, where the information acquired may be sensitive in nature, the use of the CIVET (Controlled Intrusiveness Verification Technique) approach, where a computer-based interface is employed to limit access to the information obtained, may be followed
Andreev current in finite sized carbon nanotubes
We investigate the effect of interactions on Andreev current at a
normal-superconducting junction when the normal phase is a Luttinger liquid
with repulsive interactions. In particular, we study the system of a finite
sized carbon nanotube placed between one metallic and one superconducting lead.
We show that interactions and finite size effects give rise to significant
deviations from the standard picture of Andreev current at a normal-
superconductor junction in the nearly perfect Andreev limit.Comment: 4 pages, 2 figure
Does the Animal Fun program improve motor performance in children aged 4–6 years?
The Animal Fun program was designed to enhance the motor ability of young children by imitating the movements of animals in a fun, inclusive setting. The efficacy of this program was investigated through a randomized controlled trial using a multivariate nested cohort design. Pre-intervention scores were recorded for 511 children aged 4.83 years to 6.17 years (M =5.42 years, SD = 3.58 months). Six control and six intervention schools were compared 6 months later following the intervention, and then again at 18 months after the initial testing when the children were in their first school year. Changes in motor performance were examined using the Bruininks-Oseretsky Test of Motor Proficiency short form. Data were analyzed using multi-level-mixed effects linear regression. A significant Condition Time interaction was found, F(2,1219) = 3.35, p = .035, demonstrating that only the intervention group showed an improvement in motor ability. A significant Sex Time interaction was also found, (2,1219) = 3.84, p = .022, with boys improving over time, but not girls. These findings have important implications for the efficacy of early intervention of motor skills and understanding the differences in motor performance between boys and girls
Chiral Surface States in the Bulk Quantum Hall Effect
In layered samples which exhibit a bulk quantum Hall effect (QHE), a
two-dimensional (2d) surface ``sheath" of gapless excitations is expected.
These excitations comprise a novel 2d chiral quantum liquid which should
dominate the low temperature transport along the field (z-axis). For the
integer QHE, we show that localization effects are completely absent in the
``sheath", giving a metallic z-axis conductivity. For fractional filling , the ``sheath" is a 2d non-Fermi liquid, with incoherent z-axis transport
and . Experimental implications for the Bechgaard salts
are discussed.Comment: 4 pages, RevTeX 3.0, with two encapsulated postscript figures, which
can be automatically included in-text if desired. The complete postscript
file is available on the WWW at http://www.itp.ucsb.edu/~balents/sheath.p
Fabry-Perot interference and spin filtering in carbon nanotubes
We study the two-terminal transport properties of a metallic single-walled
carbon nanotube with good contacts to electrodes, which have recently been
shown [W. Liang et al, Nature 441, 665-669 (2001)] to conduct ballistically
with weak backscattering occurring mainly at the two contacts. The measured
conductance, as a function of bias and gate voltages, shows an oscillating
pattern of quantum interference. We show how such patterns can be understood
and calculated, taking into account Luttinger liquid effects resulting from
strong Coulomb interactions in the nanotube. We treat back-scattering in the
contacts perturbatively and use the Keldysh formalism to treat non-equilibrium
effects due to the non-zero bias voltage. Going beyond current experiments, we
include the effects of possible ferromagnetic polarization of the leads to
describe spin transport in carbon nanotubes. We thereby describe both
incoherent spin injection and coherent resonant spin transport between the two
leads. Spin currents can be produced in both ways, but only the latter allow
this spin current to be controlled using an external gate. In all cases, the
spin currents, charge currents, and magnetization of the nanotube exhibit
components varying quasiperiodically with bias voltage, approximately as a
superposition of periodic interference oscillations of spin- and
charge-carrying ``quasiparticles'' in the nanotube, each with its own period.
The amplitude of the higher-period signal is largest in single-mode quantum
wires, and is somewhat suppressed in metallic nanotubes due to their sub-band
degeneracy.Comment: 12 pages, 6 figure
Problems With the Vortex-Boson Mapping in 1+1 Dimensions
Using the well known boson mapping, we relate the transverse magnetic
susceptibility of a system of flux vortices in 1+1 dimensions to an
appropriately defined conductivity of a one-dimensional boson system. The tilt
response for a system free of disorder is calculated directly, and it is found
that a subtle order of limits is required to avoid deceptive results.Comment: 4 Pages (REVTeX 3.0). Postscript file for this paper is available on
the World Wide Web at http://cmtw.harvard.edu/~simon/
Spin Transport in a Quantum Wire
We study the effect of electron-electron backscattering interactions on spin
transport in a quantum wire. Even if these interactions have no significant
effect on charge transport, they strongly influence the transport of spin. We
use the quantum Boltzmann equation in the collision approximation to derive
equations of motion for spin current and magnetization. In the limit of small
perturbations from equilibrium, we explain the existence of `precessional' and
`diffusive' behaviors. We also discuss the low-temperature non-linear decay of
an uniform spin current outside the hydrodynamic regime.Comment: 10 pages, 5 figures, REVTE
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