Fundamental genomic unity of ethnic India is revealed by analysis of mitochondrial DNA

Mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) profiles of 23 ethnic populations of India drawn from diverse cultural, linguistic and geographical backgrounds are presented. There is extensive sharing of a small number of mtDNA haplotypes, reconstructed on the basis of restriction fragment length polymorphisms, among the populations. This indicates that Indian populations were founded by a small number of females, possibly arriving on one of the early waves of out-of-Africa migration of modern humans; ethnic differentiation occurred subsequently through demographic expansions and geographic dispersal. The Asian-specific haplogroup M is in high frequency in most populations, especially tribal populations and Dravidian populations of southern India. Populations in which the frequencies of haplogroup M are relatively lower show higher frequencies of haplogroup U; such populations are primarily caste populations of northern India. This finding is indicative of a higher Caucasoid admixture in northern Indian populations. By examining the sharing of haplotypes between Indian and south-east Asian populations, we have provided evidence that south-east Asia was peopled by two waves of migration, one originating in India and the other originating in southern China. These findings have been examined and interpreted in the light of inferences derived from previous genomic and historical studies

Deregulation of LIMD1-VHL-HIF-1α-VEGF pathway is associated with different stages of cervical cancer.

To understand the mechanism of cellular stress in basal-parabasal layers of normal cervical epithelium and during different stages of cervical carcinoma, we analyzed the alterations (expression/methylation/copy number variation/mutation) of HIF-1α and its associated genes LIMD1, VHL and VEGF in disease-free normal cervix (n = 9), adjacent normal cervix of tumors (n = 70), cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN; n = 32), cancer of uterine cervix (CACX; n = 174) samples and two CACX cell lines. In basal-parabasal layers of normal cervical epithelium, LIMD1 showed high protein expression, while low protein expression of VHL was concordant with high expression of HIF-1α and VEGF irrespective of HPV-16 (human papillomavirus 16) infection. This was in concordance with the low promoter methylation of LIMD1 and high in VHL in the basal-parabasal layers of normal cervix. LIMD1 expression was significantly reduced while VHL expression was unchanged during different stages of cervical carcinoma. This was in concordance with their frequent methylation during different stages of this tumor. In different stages of cervical carcinoma, the expression pattern of HIF-1α and VEGF was high as seen in basal-parabasal layers and inversely correlated with the expression of LIMD1 and VHL. This was validated by demethylation experiments using 5-aza-2'-deoxycytidine in CACX cell lines. Additional deletion of LIMD1 and VHL in CIN/CACX provided an additional growth advantage during cervical carcinogenesis through reduced expression of genes and associated with poor prognosis of patients. Our data showed that overexpression of HIF-1α and its target gene VEGF in the basal-parabasal layers of normal cervix was due to frequent inactivation of VHL by its promoter methylation. This profile was maintained during different stages of cervical carcinoma with additional methylation/deletion of VHL and LIMD1.This work was supported by CSIR (Council of Scientific and Industrial Research, Government of India)-JRF/NET grant [File No.09/030(0059)/2010-EMR-I] to Mr. C.Chakraborty, grant [Sr. No. 2121130723] from UGC (University Grants Commission, Government of India) to Mr. Sudip Samadder, grant [SR/SO/HS-116/2007] from DST (Department of Science and Technology, Government of India) to Dr. C. K. Panda and grant [ No. 60(0111)/14/EMR-II of dt.03/11/2014] from CSIR (Council of Scientific and Industrial Research, Government of India) to Dr. C. K. Pand

Planck intermediate results XIII : Constraints on peculiar velocities

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Azimuthal anisotropy of charged jet production in root s(NN)=2.76 TeV Pb-Pb collisions

We present measurements of the azimuthal dependence of charged jet production in central and semi-central root s(NN) = 2.76 TeV Pb-Pb collisions with respect to the second harmonic event plane, quantified as nu(ch)(2) (jet). Jet finding is performed employing the anti-k(T) algorithm with a resolution parameter R = 0.2 using charged tracks from the ALICE tracking system. The contribution of the azimuthal anisotropy of the underlying event is taken into account event-by-event. The remaining (statistical) region-to-region fluctuations are removed on an ensemble basis by unfolding the jet spectra for different event plane orientations independently. Significant non-zero nu(ch)(2) (jet) is observed in semi-central collisions (30-50% centrality) for 20 <p(T)(ch) (jet) <90 GeV/c. The azimuthal dependence of the charged jet production is similar to the dependence observed for jets comprising both charged and neutral fragments, and compatible with measurements of the nu(2) of single charged particles at high p(T). Good agreement between the data and predictions from JEWEL, an event generator simulating parton shower evolution in the presence of a dense QCD medium, is found in semi-central collisions. (C) 2015 CERN for the benefit of the ALICE Collaboration. Published by Elsevier B.V. This is an open access article under the CC BY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).Peer reviewe

Forward-central two-particle correlations in p-Pb collisions at root s(NN)=5.02 TeV

Two-particle angular correlations between trigger particles in the forward pseudorapidity range (2.5 2GeV/c. (C) 2015 CERN for the benefit of the ALICE Collaboration. Published by Elsevier B. V.Peer reviewe

Event-shape engineering for inclusive spectra and elliptic flow in Pb-Pb collisions at root(NN)-N-S=2.76 TeV

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Elliptic flow of muons from heavy-flavour hadron decays at forward rapidity in Pb-Pb collisions at root s(NN)=2.76TeV

The elliptic flow, v(2), of muons from heavy-flavour hadron decays at forward rapidity (2.5 <y <4) is measured in Pb-Pb collisions at root s(NN)= 2.76TeVwith the ALICE detector at the LHC. The scalar product, two- and four-particle Q cumulants and Lee-Yang zeros methods are used. The dependence of the v(2) of muons from heavy-flavour hadron decays on the collision centrality, in the range 0-40%, and on transverse momentum, p(T), is studied in the interval 3 <p(T)<10 GeV/c. A positive v(2) is observed with the scalar product and two-particle Q cumulants in semi-central collisions (10-20% and 20-40% centrality classes) for the p(T) interval from 3 to about 5GeV/c with a significance larger than 3 sigma, based on the combination of statistical and systematic uncertainties. The v(2) magnitude tends to decrease towards more central collisions and with increasing pT. It becomes compatible with zero in the interval 6 <p(T)<10 GeV/c. The results are compared to models describing the interaction of heavy quarks and open heavy-flavour hadrons with the high-density medium formed in high-energy heavy-ion collisions. (C) 2015 CERN for the benefit of the ALICE Collaboration. Published by Elsevier B.V.Peer reviewe

Pseudorapidity and transverse-momentum distributions of charged particles in proton-proton collisions at root s=13 TeV

The pseudorapidity (eta) and transverse-momentum (p(T)) distributions of charged particles produced in proton-proton collisions are measured at the centre-of-mass energy root s = 13 TeV. The pseudorapidity distribution in vertical bar eta vertical bar <1.8 is reported for inelastic events and for events with at least one charged particle in vertical bar eta vertical bar <1. The pseudorapidity density of charged particles produced in the pseudorapidity region vertical bar eta vertical bar <0.5 is 5.31 +/- 0.18 and 6.46 +/- 0.19 for the two event classes, respectively. The transverse-momentum distribution of charged particles is measured in the range 0.15 <p(T) <20 GeV/c and vertical bar eta vertical bar <0.8 for events with at least one charged particle in vertical bar eta vertical bar <1. The evolution of the transverse momentum spectra of charged particles is also investigated as a function of event multiplicity. The results are compared with calculations from PYTHIA and EPOS Monte Carlo generators. (C) 2015 CERN for the benefit of the ALICE Collaboration. Published by Elsevier B.V. This is an open access article under the CC BY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).Peer reviewe

Centrality evolution of the charged-particle pseudorapidity density over a broad pseudorapidity range in Pb-Pb collisions at root s(NN)=2.76TeV

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