Behavioral genetics and taste

This review focuses on behavioral genetic studies of sweet, umami, bitter and salt taste responses in mammals. Studies involving mouse inbred strain comparisons and genetic analyses, and their impact on elucidation of taste receptors and transduction mechanisms are discussed. Finally, the effect of genetic variation in taste responsiveness on complex traits such as drug intake is considered. Recent advances in development of genomic resources make behavioral genetics a powerful approach for understanding mechanisms of taste

Genetic insights into resting heart rate and its role in cardiovascular disease.

Resting heart rate is associated with cardiovascular diseases and mortality in observational and Mendelian randomization studies. The aims of this study are to extend the number of resting heart rate associated genetic variants and to obtain further insights in resting heart rate biology and its clinical consequences. A genome-wide meta-analysis of 100 studies in up to 835,465 individuals reveals 493 independent genetic variants in 352 loci, including 68 genetic variants outside previously identified resting heart rate associated loci. We prioritize 670 genes and in silico annotations point to their enrichment in cardiomyocytes and provide insights in their ECG signature. Two-sample Mendelian randomization analyses indicate that higher genetically predicted resting heart rate increases risk of dilated cardiomyopathy, but decreases risk of developing atrial fibrillation, ischemic stroke, and cardio-embolic stroke. We do not find evidence for a linear or non-linear genetic association between resting heart rate and all-cause mortality in contrast to our previous Mendelian randomization study. Systematic alteration of key differences between the current and previous Mendelian randomization study indicates that the most likely cause of the discrepancy between these studies arises from false positive findings in previous one-sample MR analyses caused by weak-instrument bias at lower P-value thresholds. The results extend our understanding of resting heart rate biology and give additional insights in its role in cardiovascular disease development

Superconductivity and magnetism in the Ho1-xEr xRh4B4 alloy system

We have used neutron scattering techniques to examine the magnetic transitions in the Ho1-xErxRh4B4 pseudoternary system. A wide variety of behavior is found, ranging from mean-field behavior for HoRh4B4 to complicated behavior for ErRh4B4, where superconductivity and long-range ferromagnetic order coexist between 0.7 and 1.2 K. Long-range ferromagnetic order is found at the lowest temperatures for all alloy compositions. Alloys with more than about 30% Ho order magnetically along the c axis and superconductivity is destroyed in these alloys in a sharp transition coincident with magnetic ordering. Alloys near the ErRh4B4 composition order in the basal plane but undergo a complex ordering process through a sinusoidally modulated state. Because Ho and Er have competing orthogonal magnetic anisotropies, compounds near the composition Ho 0.25Er0.75Rh4B4 are near a multicritical point in the magnetic phase diagram

Superconductivity and magnetism in the Ho1-xEr xRh4B4 alloy system

We have used neutron scattering techniques to examine the magnetic transitions in the Ho Er Rh B pseudoternary system. A wide variety of behavior is found, ranging from mean-field behavior for HoRh B to complicated behavior for ErRh B , where superconductivity and long-range ferromagnetic order coexist between 0.7 and 1.2 K. Long-range ferromagnetic order is found at the lowest temperatures for all alloy compositions. Alloys with more than about 30% Ho order magnetically along the c axis and superconductivity is destroyed in these alloys in a sharp transition coincident with magnetic ordering. Alloys near the ErRh B composition order in the basal plane but undergo a complex ordering process through a sinusoidally modulated state. Because Ho and Er have competing orthogonal magnetic anisotropies, compounds near the composition Ho Er Rh B are near a multicritical point in the magnetic phase diagram. 1-x x 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 0.25 0.75 4

Superconductivity and magnetism in ternary rare-earth compounds

Superconductivity and magnetism are two types of order that can take place in materials at low temperatures. When the magnetic order is ferromagnetic, a competition exists between magnetism and superconductivity. Neutron scattering has been used to measure the interaction of magnetism and superconductivity in a series of ternary rare-earth alloys. A wide range of behavior is found near the magnetic transition, including mean-field magnetic ordering, first-order transitions between magnetism and superconductivity, and co-existence of ferromagnetism and superconductivity with a sinusoidally-modulated magnetic phase. © 1983

Superconductivity and magnetism in ternary rare-earth compounds

Superconductivity and magnetism are two types of order that can take place in materials at low temperatures. When the magnetic order is ferromagnetic, a competition exists between magnetism and superconductivity. Neutron scattering has been used to measure the interaction of magnetism and superconductivity in a series of ternary rare-earth alloys. A wide range of behavior is found near the magnetic transition, including mean-field magnetic ordering, first-order transitions between magnetism and superconductivity, and co-existence of ferromagnetism and superconductivity with a sinusoidally-modulated magnetic phase. © 1983

Effect of double ion implantation and irradiation by Ar and He ions on nano-indentation hardness of metallic alloys

In this study, the authors have investigated the combined effect of a double layer of implantation on four different metallic alloys, ODS steel MA957, Zircaloy-4, Ti–6Al–4V titanium alloy and stainless steel 316, by ions of two different species – He and Ar – on the hardening of the surface as measured by nano-indentation. The data was collected for a large number of indentations using the Continuous Stiffness Method or “CSM” mode, applying the indents on the implanted surface. Careful analysis of the data in the present investigations show that the relative hardening due to individual implantation layers can be used to obtain an estimate of the relative hardening effect of a combination of two separate implanted layers of two different species. This combined hardness was found to lie between the square root of the sum of the squares of individual hardening effects, (ΔHA2 + ΔHB2)0.5 as the lower limit and the sum of the individual hardening effects, (ΔHA + ΔHB) as the upper limit, within errors, for all depths measured.© 2013, Elsevier B.V