Circulating long noncoding RNA GAS5 levels are correlated to prevalence of type 2 diabetes mellitus

AbstractBackgroundDiabetes mellitus (DM), a metabolic disease, is characterized by impaired fasting glucose levels. Type 2 DM is adult onset diabetes. Long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) regulate gene expression and multiple studies have linked lncRNAs to human diseases.MethodsSerum samples obtained from 96 participating veterans at JAH VA were deposited in the Research Biospecimen Repository. We used a two-stage strategy to identify an lncRNA whose levels correlated with T2DM. Initially we screened five serum samples from diabetic and non-diabetic individuals using lncRNA arrays. Next, GAS5 lncRNA levels were analyzed in 96 serum samples using quantitative PCR. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis was performed to determine the optimal cutoff GAS5 for diagnosis of DM.ResultsOur results demonstrate that decreased GAS5 levels in serum were associated with diabetes in a cohort of US military veterans. The ROC analysis revealed an optimal cutoff GAS5 value of less than or equal to 10. qPCR results indicated that individuals with absolute GAS5<10ng/μl have almost twelve times higher odds of having diabetes (Exact Odds Ratio [OR]=11.79 (95% CI: 3.97, 37.26), p<0.001). Analysis indicated area under curve (AUC) of ROC of 0.81 with 85.1% sensitivity and 67.3% specificity in distinguishing non-diabetic from diabetic subjects. The positive predictive value is 71.4%.ConclusionlncRNA GAS5 levels are correlated to prevalence of T2DM.General SignificanceAssessment of GAS5 in serum along with other parameters offers greater accuracy in identifying individuals at-risk for diabetes

Wake-up Stroke Outcome Prediction by Interpretable Decision Tree Model

Outcome prediction in wake-up ischemic stroke (WUS) is important for guiding treatment strategies, in order to improve recovery and minimize disability. We aimed at producing an interpretable model to predict a good outcome (NIHSS 7-day<5) in thrombolysis treated WUS patients by using Classification and Regression Tree (CART) method. The study encompassed 104 WUS patients and we used a dataset consisting of demographic, clinical and neuroimaging features. The model was produced by CART with Gini split criterion and evaluated by using 5-fold cross-validation. The produced decision tree model was based on NIHSS at admission, ischemic core volume and age features. The predictive accuracy of model was 86.5% and the AUC-ROC was 0.88. In conclusion, in this preliminary study we identified interpretable model based on clinical and neuroimaging features to predict clinical outcome in thrombolysis treated wake-up stroke patients

Adiabatic transfer of light in a double cavity and the optical Landau-Zener problem

We analyze the evolution of an electromagnetic field inside a double cavity when the difference in length between the two cavities is changed, e.g. by translating the common mirror. We find that this allows photons to be moved deterministically from one cavity to the other. We are able to obtain the conditions for adiabatic transfer by first mapping the Maxwell wave equation for the electric field onto a Schroedinger-like wave equation, and then using the Landau-Zener result for the transition probability at an avoided crossing. Our analysis reveals that this mapping only rigorously holds when the two cavities are weakly coupled (i.e. in the regime of a highly reflective common mirror), and that, generally speaking, care is required when attempting a hamiltonian description of cavity electrodynamics with time-dependent boundary conditions.Comment: 24 pages, 18 figures. Version 2 includes a new section (Sec. VIII) on the regimes of validity of the Schroedinger-like equations and also of the adiabatic approximation, together with a new figure (Fig. 10). The discussion section (Sec. XI) has also been enhance

Exploitation of epigenetic variation of crop wild relatives for crop improvement and agrobiodiversity preservation

Crop wild relatives (CWRs) are recognized as the best potential source of traits for crop improvement. However, successful crop improvement using CWR relies on identifying variation in genes controlling desired traits in plant germplasms and subsequently incorporating them into cultivars. Epigenetic diversity may provide an additional layer of variation within CWR and can contribute novel epialleles for key traits for crop improvement. There is emerging evidence that epigenetic variants of functional and/or agronomic importance exist in CWR gene pools. This provides a rationale for the conservation of epigenotypes of interest, thus contributing to agrobiodiversity preservation through conservation and (epi)genetic monitoring. Concepts and techniques of classical and modern breeding should consider integrating recent progress in epigenetics, initially by identifying their association with phenotypic variations and then by assessing their heritability and stability in subsequent generations. New tools available for epigenomic analysis offer the opportunity to capture epigenetic variation and integrate it into advanced (epi)breeding programmes. Advances in -omics have provided new insights into the sources and inheritance of epigenetic variation and enabled the efficient introduction of epi-traits from CWR into crops using epigenetic molecular markers, such as epiQTLs

Isopiestic Investigation of the Osmotic and Activity Coefficients of {yMgCl2 + (1 - y)MgSO4}(aq) and the Osmotic Coefficients of Na2SO4.MgSO4(aq) at 298.15 K

Isopiestic vapor pressure measurements were made for {l_brace}yMgCl{sub 2} + (1-y)MgSO{sub 4}{r_brace}(aq) solutions with MgCl{sub 2} ionic strength fractions of y = 0, 0.1997, 0.3989, 0.5992, 0.8008, and (1) at the temperature 298.15 K, using KCl(aq) as the reference standard. These measurements for the mixtures cover the ionic strength range I = 0.9794 to 9.4318 mol {center_dot} kg{sup -1}. In addition, isopiestic measurements were made with NaCl(aq) as reference standard for mixtures of {l_brace}xNa{sub 2}SO{sub 4} + (1-x)MgSO{sub 4}{r_brace}(aq) with the molality fraction x = 0.50000 that correspond to solutions of the evaporite mineral bloedite (astrakanite), Na{sub 2}Mg(SO{sub 4}){sub 2} {center_dot} 4H{sub 2}O(cr). The total molalities, m{sub T} = m(Na{sub 2}SO{sub 4}) + m(MgSO{sub 4}), range from m{sub T} = 1.4479 to 4.4312 mol {center_dot} kg{sup -1} (I = 5.0677 to 15.509 mol {center_dot} kg{sup -1}), where the uppermost concentration is the highest oversaturation molality that could be achieved by isothermal evaporation of the solvent at 298.15 K. The parameters of an extended ion-interaction (Pitzer) model for MgCl2(aq) at 298.15 K, which were required for an analysis of the {l_brace}yMgCl{sub 2} + (1-y)MgSO{sub 4}{r_brace}(aq) mixture results, were evaluated up to I = 12.025 mol {center_dot} kg{sup -1} from published isopiestic data together with the six new osmotic coefficients obtained in this study. Osmotic coefficients of {l_brace}yMgCl{sub 2} + (1-y)MgSO{sub 4}{r_brace}(aq) solutions from the present study, along with critically-assessed values from previous studies, were used to evaluate the mixing parameters of the extended ion-interaction model

Osmotic and Activity Coefficients of the {xZnCl2 + (1 - x)ZnSO4}(aq) System at 298.15 K

Isopiestic vapor pressure measurements were made for (xZnCl{sub 2} + (1 - x)ZnSO{sub 4})(aq) solutions with ZnCl{sub 2} molality fractions of x = (0, 0.3062, 0.5730, 0.7969, and 1) at the temperature 298.15 K, using KCl(aq) as the reference standard. These measurements cover the water activity range 0.901-0.919 {le} a{sub w} {le} 0.978. The experimental osmotic coefficients were used to evaluate the parameters of an extended ion-interaction (Pitzer) model for these mixed electrolyte solutions. A similar analysis was made of the available activity data for ZnCl{sub 2}(aq) at 298.15 K, while assuming the presence of equilibrium amounts of ZnCl{sup +}(aq) ion-pairs, to derive the ion-interaction parameters for the hypothetical pure binary electrolytes (Zn{sup 2+}, 2Cl{sup -}) and (ZnCl{sup +},Cl{sup -}). These parameters are required for the analysis of the mixture results. Although significant concentrations of higher-order zinc chloride complexes may also be present in these solutions, it was possible to represent the osmotic coefficients accurately by explicitly including only the predominant complex ZnCl{sup +}(aq) and the completely dissociated ions. The ionic activity coefficients and osmotic coefficients were calculated over the investigated molality range using the evaluated extended Pitzer model parameters

Temporada coreográfica primavera 1974

De cada obra s'ha digitalitzat un programa sencer. De la resta s'han digitalitzat les parts que són diferents.Empresa: Juan A. PamiasOrquestra del Gran Teatre del Liceu dirigida per Dusan Miladinovic i Stanko SepicSinfonia en do : Música de Georges Bizet, coreografia de Dimitri Parlic ; Golem : Música de Francis Burt, coreografia de Dimitri Parlic ; El cisne negro (paso a dos) : Música de Txaikovski, coreografia de M. Petipa ; Danzas Polovtsianas de El prícipe Igor : Música d'Alexander Borodin, coreografia de Michel Fokine, adaptada per Anica Preli

Temporada coreográfica primavera 1974

Bacchus et Arianne : Música d'Albert Roussel, coreografia de Dimitri Parlic ; Golem : Música de Francis Burt, coreografia de Dimitri Parlic ; Don Quijote (paso a dos) : Música de Ludwig Minkus, coreografia de M. Petipa ; Danzas Polovtsianas de el Príncipe Igor : música d'Alexander Borodin, coreografia de Michel Fokine, adaptada per Anica PrelieDe cada obra s'ha digitalitzat un programa sencer. De la resta s'han digitalitzat les parts que són diferents.Empresa: Juan A. PamiasOrquestra del Gran Teatre del Liceu dirigida per Dusan Miladinovi

Evidence for the exclusive decay Bc+- to J/psi pi+- and measurement of the mass of the Bc meson

We report first evidence for a fully reconstructed decay mode of the B_c^{\pm} meson in the channel B_c^{\pm} \to J/psi \pi^{\pm}, with J/psi \to mu^+mu^-. The analysis is based on an integrated luminosity of 360 pb$^{-1} in p\bar{p} collisions at 1.96 TeV center of mass energy collected by the Collider Detector at Fermilab. We observe 14.6 \pm 4.6 signal events with a background of 7.1 \pm 0.9 events, and a fit to the J/psi pi^{\pm} mass spectrum yields a B_c^{\pm} mass of 6285.7 \pm 5.3(stat) \pm 1.2(syst) MeV/c^2. The probability of a peak of this magnitude occurring by random fluctuation in the search region is estimated as 0.012%.Comment: 7 pages, 3 figures. Version 3, accepted by PR

Search for the Higgs boson in events with missing transverse energy and b quark jets produced in proton-antiproton collisions at s**(1/2)=1.96 TeV

We search for the standard model Higgs boson produced in association with an electroweak vector boson in events with no identified charged leptons, large imbalance in transverse momentum, and two jets where at least one contains a secondary vertex consistent with the decay of b hadrons. We use ~1 fb-1 integrated luminosity of proton-antiproton collisions at s**(1/2)=1.96 TeV recorded by the CDF II experiment at the Tevatron. We find 268 (16) single (double) b-tagged candidate events, where 248 +/- 43 (14.4 +/- 2.7) are expected from standard model background processes. We place 95% confidence level upper limits on the Higgs boson production cross section for several Higgs boson masses ranging from 110 GeV/c2 to 140 GeV/c2. For a mass of 115 GeV/c2 the observed (expected) limit is 20.4 (14.2) times the standard model prediction.Comment: 8 pages, 2 figures, submitted to Phys. Rev. Let