Minimum orbit dimension for local unitary action on n-qubit pure states

The group of local unitary transformations partitions the space of n-qubit quantum states into orbits, each of which is a differentiable manifold of some dimension. We prove that all orbits of the n-qubit quantum state space have dimension greater than or equal to 3n/2 for n even and greater than or equal to (3n + 1)/2 for n odd. This lower bound on orbit dimension is sharp, since n-qubit states composed of products of singlets achieve these lowest orbit dimensions.Comment: 19 page

An Evaluation of Short-term Mesocarnivore Control for Increasing Hatch Rate in Northern Bobwhites

We evaluated the efficacy of short-term trapping on scent-station visitation rates for some nest predators and survival of artificial nests with chicken eggs at 4 sites in west Texas from 1998-2001. Trapping of predators was conducted with cage traps for 30 days just prior to nest initiation (mid-May through mid-June) at a trap density of 1 trap/20 ha. Each site included a treatment (trapped) and control (non-trapped) area that comprised approximately 250 ha. Scent stations were employed before and after trapping to assess impacts of trapping on predator activity/abundance. Simulated nests (using 3 chicken eggs) were established 1-2 days after trapping ended, and monitored weekly to estimate visitation rate. We removed an average of 69 mesomammals per year (n = 274 across all sites), within a 30-day-trapping period. We detected no consistent declines in scent-station visitation rates of target species before or after trapping. We did not detect an increase in survival of artificial nests. We conclude that short-term trapping efforts on small areas used in this study did not reduce the overall predator community enough to affect scent-station visitation rates or survival of artificial nests

Test-Retest Reliability of the Digijump Machine

Repetitive jumping has been identified as a possible exercise modality able to provide sufficient stimulus to improve bone health. However, it is necessary to establish whether repetitive jumping can elicit a consistent physiological response with the ablity to monitor work rate. The purpose of this investigation was to determine the stability reliability of the Digijump device for the commonly used laboratory measures of oxygen uptake (VO2), heart rate (HR), and rate of perceived exertion (RPE). College-aged individuals (N = 17) completed two 3-min repetitive jumping bouts on the Digijump machine (120 jumps per minute, jump height = 1.27 cm) at least seven days apart. Stability reliability was calculated using the intraclass correlation coefficient derived from 1-way ANOVA. Absolute VO2 displayed the highest test-retest reliability (0.95), while the coefficient for relative VO2 was also acceptable (0.71). The test-retest reliability coefficients for HR (0.89), and RPE (0.75) were determined to be within acceptable limits. Coefficients for all variables compared well with the stability reliability reported for other ergometers such as the Stairmaster, treadmill, and cycle. This data represent an important step in determining the validity of the Digijump machine for physiological testing

Advances in preclinical evaluation of experimental antibody-drug conjugates.

The ability to chemically modify monoclonal antibodies with the attachment of specific functional groups has opened up an enormous range of possibilities for the targeted treatment and diagnosis of cancer in the clinic. As the number of such antibody-based drug candidates has increased, so too has the need for more stringent and robust preclinical evaluation of their in vivo performance to maximize the likelihood that time, research effort, and money are only spent developing the most effective and promising candidate molecules for translation to the clinic. Concurrent with the development of antibody-drug conjugate (ADC) technology, several recent advances in preclinical research stand to greatly increase the experimental rigor by which promising candidate molecules can be evaluated. These include advances in preclinical tumor modeling with the development of patient-derived tumor organoid models that far better recapitulate many aspects of the human disease than conventional subcutaneous xenograft models. Such models are amenable to genetic manipulation, which will greatly improve our understanding of the relationship between ADC and antigen and stringently evaluate mechanisms of therapeutic response. Finally, tumor development is often not visible in these in vivo models. We discuss how the application of several preclinical molecular imaging techniques will greatly enhance the quality of experimental data, enabling quantitative pre- and post-treatment tumor measurements or the precise assessment of ADCs as effective diagnostics. In our opinion, when taken together, these advances in preclinical cancer research will greatly improve the identification of effective candidate ADC molecules with the best chance of clinical translation and cancer patient benefit

FRMD4A Upregulation in Human Squamous Cell Carcinoma Promotes Tumor Growth and Metastasis and Is Associated with Poor Prognosis

New therapeutic strategies are needed to improve treatment of head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC), an aggressive tumor with poor survival rates. FRMD4A is a human epidermal stem cell marker implicated previously in epithelial polarity that is upregulated in SCC cells. Here, we report that FRMD4A upregulation occurs in primary human HNSCCs where high expression levels correlate with increased risks of relapse. FRMD4A silencing decreased growth and metastasis of human SCC xenografts in skin and tongue, reduced SCC proliferation and intercellular adhesion, and stimulated caspase-3 activity and expression of terminal differentiation markers. Notably, FRMD4A attenuation caused nuclear accumulation of YAP, suggesting a potential role for FRMD4A in Hippo signaling. Treatment with the HSP90 inhibitor 17-DMAG or ligation of CD44 with hyaluronan caused nuclear depletion of FRMD4A, nuclear accumulation of YAP and reduced SCC growth and metastasis. Together, our findings suggest FRMD4A as a novel candidate therapeutic target in HNSCC based on the key role in metastatic growth we have identified

Manipulation of Fgf and Bmp signaling in teleost fishes suggests potential pathways for the evolutionary origin of multicuspid teeth

Teeth with two or more cusps have arisen independently from an ancestral unicuspid condition in a variety of vertebrate lineages, including sharks, teleost fishes, amphibians, lizards, and mammals. One potential explanation for the repeated origins of multicuspid teeth is the existence of multiple adaptive pathways leading to them, as suggested by their different uses in these lineages. Another is that the addition of cusps required only minor changes in genetic pathways regulating tooth development. Here we provide support for the latter hypothesis by demonstrating that manipulation of the levels of Fibroblast growth factor (Fgf) or Bone morphogenetic protein (Bmp) signaling produces bicuspid teeth in the zebrafish (Danio rerio), a species lacking multicuspid teeth in its ancestry. The generality of these results for teleosts is suggested by the conversion of unicuspid pharyngeal teeth into bicuspid teeth by similar manipulations of the Mexican Tetra (Astyanax mexicanus). That these manipulations also produced supernumerary teeth in both species supports previous suggestions of similarities in the molecular control of tooth and cusp number. We conclude that despite their apparent complexity, the evolutionary origin of multicuspid teeth is positively constrained, likely requiring only slight modifications of a pre-existing mechanism for patterning the number and spacing of individual teeth. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc

Exploring the measurement of markedness and its relationship with other linguistic variables

Antonym pair members can be differentiated by each word's markedness-that distinction attributable to the presence or absence of features at morphological or semantic levels. Morphologically marked words incorporate their unmarked counterpart with additional morphs (e.g., "unlucky" vs. "lucky"); properties used to determine semantically marked words (e.g., "short" vs. "long") are less clearly defined. Despite extensive theoretical scrutiny, the lexical properties of markedness have received scant empirical study. The current paper employs an antonym sequencing approach to measure markedness: establishing markedness probabilities for individual words and evaluating their relationship with other lexical properties (e.g., length, frequency, valence). Regression analyses reveal that markedness probability is, as predicted, related to affixation and also strongly related to valence. Our results support the suggestion that antonym sequence is reflected in discourse, and further analysis demonstrates that markedness probabilities, derived from the antonym sequencing task, reflect the ordering of antonyms within natural language. In line with the Pollyanna Hypothesis, we argue that markedness is closely related to valence; language users demonstrate a tendency to present words evaluated positively ahead of those evaluated negatively if given the choice. Future research should consider the relationship of markedness and valence, and the influence of contextual information in determining which member of an antonym pair is marked or unmarked within discourse

Stress Granules and RNA Processing Bodies are Novel Autoantibody Targets in Systemic Sclerosis

Autoantibody profiles represent important patient stratification markers in systemic sclerosis (SSc). Here, we performed serum-immunoprecipitations with patient antibodies followed by mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) to obtain an unbiased view of all possible autoantibody targets and their associated molecular complexes recognized by SSc