Kondo screening in a magnetically frustrated nanostructure: Exact results on a stable, non-Fermi-liquid phase

Triangular symmetry stabilizes a novel non-Fermi-liquid phase in the three-impurity Kondo model with frustrating antiferromagnetic interactions between half-integer impurity spins. The phase arises without fine-tuning of couplings, and is stable against magnetic fields and particle-hole symmetry breaking. We find a conformal field theory describing this phase, verify it using the numerical renormalization group, and extract various exact, universal low-energy properties. Signatures predicted in electrical transport may be testable in scanning tunneling microscopy or quantum-dot experiments.Comment: 4 pages, published version (shortened, minor corrections

Effects of High-Fat Diet on eHSP72 and Extra-to-Intracellular HSP70 Levels in Mice Submitted to Exercise under Exposure to Fine Particulate Matter

Obesity, air pollution, and exercise induce alterations in the heat shock response (HSR), in both intracellular 70?kDa heat shock proteins (iHSP70) and the plasmatic extracellular form (eHSP72). Extra-to-intracellular HSP70 ratio (H-index?=?eHSP70/iHSP70 ratio) represents a candidate biomarker of subclinical health status. This study investigated the effects of moderate- and high-intensity exercise in the HSR and oxidative stress parameters, in obese mice exposed to fine particulate matter (PM2.5). Thirty-day-old male isogenic B6129F2/J mice were maintained for 16 weeks on standard chow or high-fat diet (HFD). Then, mice were exposed to either saline or 50?µg of PM2.5 by intranasal instillation and subsequently maintained at rest or subjected to moderate- or high-intensity swimming exercise. HFD mice exhibited high adiposity and glucose intolerance at week 16th. HFD mice submitted to moderate- or high-intensity exercise were not able to complete the exercise session and showed lower levels of eHSP70 and H-index, when compared to controls. PM2.5 exposure modified the glycaemic response to exercise and modified hematological responses in HFD mice. Our study suggests that obesity is a critical health condition for exercise prescription under PM2.5 exposure

Renormalization-group study of Anderson and Kondo impurities in gapless Fermi systems

Thermodynamic properties are presented for four magnetic impurity models describing delocalized fermions scattering from a localized orbital at an energy-dependent rate $\Gamma(\epsilon)$ which vanishes precisely at the Fermi level, $\epsilon = 0$. Specifically, it is assumed that for small $|\epsilon|$, $\Gamma(\epsilon)\propto|\epsilon|^r$ with $r>0$. The cases $r=1$ and $r=2$ describe dilute magnetic impurities in unconventional superconductors, ``flux phases'' of the two-dimensional electron gas, and zero-gap semiconductors. For the nondegenerate Anderson model, the depression of the low-energy scattering rate suppresses mixed valence in favor of local-moment behavior, and leads to a marked reduction in the exchange coupling on entry to the local-moment regime, with a consequent narrowing of the range of parameters within which the impurity spin becomes Kondo-screened. The relationship between the Anderson model and the exactly screened Kondo model with power-law exchange is examined. The intermediate-coupling fixed point identified in the latter model by Withoff and Fradkin (WF) has clear signatures in the thermodynamic properties and in the local magnetic response of the impurity. The underscreened, impurity-spin-one Kondo model and the overscreened, two-channel Kondo model both exhibit a conditionally stable intermediate-coupling fixed point in addition to unstable fixed points of the WF type. In all four models, the presence or absence of particle-hole symmetry plays a crucial role.Comment: 44 two-column REVTex pages, 31 epsf-embedded EPS figures. MINOR formatting changes. To appear in Phys. Rev.

Comparison of sequencing-based methods to profile DNA methylation and identification of monoallelic epigenetic modifications.

Analysis of DNA methylation patterns relies increasingly on sequencing-based profiling methods. The four most frequently used sequencing-based technologies are the bisulfite-based methods MethylC-seq and reduced representation bisulfite sequencing (RRBS), and the enrichment-based techniques methylated DNA immunoprecipitation sequencing (MeDIP-seq) and methylated DNA binding domain sequencing (MBD-seq). We applied all four methods to biological replicates of human embryonic stem cells to assess their genome-wide CpG coverage, resolution, cost, concordance and the influence of CpG density and genomic context. The methylation levels assessed by the two bisulfite methods were concordant (their difference did not exceed a given threshold) for 82% for CpGs and 99% of the non-CpG cytosines. Using binary methylation calls, the two enrichment methods were 99% concordant and regions assessed by all four methods were 97% concordant. We combined MeDIP-seq with methylation-sensitive restriction enzyme (MRE-seq) sequencing for comprehensive methylome coverage at lower cost. This, along with RNA-seq and ChIP-seq of the ES cells enabled us to detect regions with allele-specific epigenetic states, identifying most known imprinted regions and new loci with monoallelic epigenetic marks and monoallelic expression

Chemokines and galectins form heterodimers to modulate inflammation

Chemokines and galectins are simultaneously upregulated and mediate leukocyte recruitment during inflammation. Until now, these effector molecules have been considered to function independently. Here, we tested the hypothesis that they form molecular hybrids. By systematically screening chemokines for their ability to bind galectin‐1 and galectin‐3, we identified several interacting pairs, such as CXCL12 and galectin‐3. Based on NMR and MD studies of the CXCL12/galectin‐3 heterodimer, we identified contact sites between CXCL12 β‐strand 1 and Gal‐3 F‐face residues. Mutagenesis of galectin‐3 residues involved in heterodimer formation resulted in reduced binding to CXCL12, enabling testing of functional activity comparatively. Galectin‐3, but not its mutants, inhibited CXCL12‐induced chemotaxis of leukocytes and their recruitment into the mouse peritoneum. Moreover, galectin‐3 attenuated CXCL12‐stimulated signaling via its receptor CXCR4 in a ternary complex with the chemokine and receptor, consistent with our structural model. This first report of heterodimerization between chemokines and galectins reveals a new type of interaction between inflammatory mediators that can underlie a novel immunoregulatory mechanism in inflammation. Thus, further exploration of the chemokine/galectin interactome is warranted

Spatio-temporal Models of Lymphangiogenesis in Wound Healing

Several studies suggest that one possible cause of impaired wound healing is failed or insufficient lymphangiogenesis, that is the formation of new lymphatic capillaries. Although many mathematical models have been developed to describe the formation of blood capillaries (angiogenesis), very few have been proposed for the regeneration of the lymphatic network. Lymphangiogenesis is a markedly different process from angiogenesis, occurring at different times and in response to different chemical stimuli. Two main hypotheses have been proposed: 1) lymphatic capillaries sprout from existing interrupted ones at the edge of the wound in analogy to the blood angiogenesis case; 2) lymphatic endothelial cells first pool in the wound region following the lymph flow and then, once sufficiently populated, start to form a network. Here we present two PDE models describing lymphangiogenesis according to these two different hypotheses. Further, we include the effect of advection due to interstitial flow and lymph flow coming from open capillaries. The variables represent different cell densities and growth factor concentrations, and where possible the parameters are estimated from biological data. The models are then solved numerically and the results are compared with the available biological literature.Comment: 29 pages, 9 Figures, 6 Tables (39 figure files in total

Digital Signal Processing Research Program

Contains table of contents for Section 2, an introduction, reports on sixteen research projects and a list of publications.Bose CorporationMIT-Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution Joint Graduate Program in Oceanographic EngineeringAdvanced Research Projects Agency/U.S. Navy - Office of Naval Research Grant N00014-93-1-0686Lockheed Sanders, Inc./U.S. Navy - Office of Naval Research Contract N00014-91-C-0125U.S. Air Force - Office of Scientific Research Grant AFOSR-91-0034AT&T Laboratories Doctoral Support ProgramAdvanced Research Projects Agency/U.S. Navy - Office of Naval Research Grant N00014-89-J-1489U.S. Navy - Office of Naval Research Grant N00014-93-1-0686National Science Foundation FellowshipMaryland Procurement Office Contract MDA904-93-C-4180U.S. Navy - Office of Naval Research Grant N00014-91-J-162

Association of cardiometabolic microRNAs with COVID-19 severity and mortality

AIMS: Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) can lead to multiorgan damage. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) in blood reflect cell activation and tissue injury. We aimed to determine the association of circulating miRNAs with COVID-19 severity and 28 day intensive care unit (ICU) mortality. METHODS AND RESULTS: We performed RNA-Seq in plasma of healthy controls (n = 11), non-severe (n = 18), and severe (n = 18) COVID-19 patients and selected 14 miRNAs according to cell- and tissue origin for measurement by reverse transcription quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RT–qPCR) in a separate cohort of mild (n = 6), moderate (n = 39), and severe (n = 16) patients. Candidates were then measured by RT–qPCR in longitudinal samples of ICU COVID-19 patients (n = 240 samples from n = 65 patients). A total of 60 miRNAs, including platelet-, endothelial-, hepatocyte-, and cardiomyocyte-derived miRNAs, were differentially expressed depending on severity, with increased miR-133a and reduced miR-122 also being associated with 28 day mortality. We leveraged mass spectrometry-based proteomics data for corresponding protein trajectories. Myocyte-derived (myomiR) miR-133a was inversely associated with neutrophil counts and positively with proteins related to neutrophil degranulation, such as myeloperoxidase. In contrast, levels of hepatocyte-derived miR-122 correlated to liver parameters and to liver-derived positive (inverse association) and negative acute phase proteins (positive association). Finally, we compared miRNAs to established markers of COVID-19 severity and outcome, i.e. SARS-CoV-2 RNAemia, age, BMI, D-dimer, and troponin. Whilst RNAemia, age and troponin were better predictors of mortality, miR-133a and miR-122 showed superior classification performance for severity. In binary and triplet combinations, miRNAs improved classification performance of established markers for severity and mortality. CONCLUSION: Circulating miRNAs of different tissue origin, including several known cardiometabolic biomarkers, rise with COVID-19 severity. MyomiR miR-133a and liver-derived miR-122 also relate to 28 day mortality. MiR-133a reflects inflammation-induced myocyte damage, whilst miR-122 reflects the hepatic acute phase response

The Marker State Space (MSS) Method for Classifying Clinical Samples

The development of accurate clinical biomarkers has been challenging in part due to the diversity between patients and diseases. One approach to account for the diversity is to use multiple markers to classify patients, based on the concept that each individual marker contributes information from its respective subclass of patients. Here we present a new strategy for developing biomarker panels that accounts for completely distinct patient subclasses. Marker State Space (MSS) defines "marker states" based on all possible patterns of high and low values among a panel of markers. Each marker state is defined as either a case state or a control state, and a sample is classified as case or control based on the state it occupies. MSS was used to define multi-marker panels that were robust in cross validation and training-set/test-set analyses and that yielded similar classification accuracy to several other classification algorithms. A three-marker panel for discriminating pancreatic cancer patients from control subjects revealed subclasses of patients based on distinct marker states. MSS provides a straightforward approach for modeling highly divergent subclasses of patients, which may be adaptable for diverse applications. © 2013 Fallon et al