Multi-tissue coexpression networks reveal unexpected subnetworks associated with disease

Tissue-to-tissue coexpression networks between genes in hypothalamus, liver or adipose tissue enable identification of obesity-specific genes

Spatial and temporal trends in exhumation of the Eastern Himalaya and syntaxis as determined from a multitechnique detrital thermochronological study of the Bengal Fan

The Bengal Fan provides a Neogene record of Eastern and Central Himalaya exhumation. We provide the first detrital thermochronological study (apatite and rutile U-Pb, mica Ar-Ar, zircon fission track) of sediment samples collected during International Ocean Discovery Program (IODP) Expedition 354 to the mid−Bengal Fan. Our data from rutile and zircon fission-track thermochronometry show a shift in lag times over the interval 5.59−3.47 Ma. The oldest sample with a lag time of 6 m.y.) has a depositional age of 5.59−4.50 Ma, and the zircon and rutile populations then show a static peak until >12 Ma. This interval, from 5.59−4.50 Ma to >12 Ma, is most easily interpreted as recording passive erosion of the Greater Himalaya. However, single grains with lag times of <4 m.y., but with high analytical uncertainty, are recorded over this interval. For sediments older than 10 Ma, these grains were derived from the Greater Himalaya, which was exhuming rapidly until ca. 14 Ma. In sediments younger than 10 Ma, these grains could represent slower, yet still rapid, exhumation of the syntaxial antiform to the south of the massif. Lag times <1 m.y. are again recorded from 14.5 Ma to the base of the studied section at 17 Ma, reflecting a period of Greater Himalayan rapid exhumation. Mica 40Ar/39Ar and apatite U-Pb data are not sensitive to syntaxial exhumation: We ascribe this to the paucity of white mica in syntaxial lithologies, and to high levels of common Pb, resulting in U-Pb ages associated with unacceptably high uncertainties, respectively

Multi-tissue coexpression networks reveal unexpected subnetworks associated with disease

Background Obesity is a particularly complex disease that at least partially involves genetic and environmental perturbations to gene-networks connecting the hypothalamus and several metabolic tissues, resulting in an energy imbalance at the systems level. Results To provide an inter-tissue view of obesity with respect to molecular states that are associated with physiological states, we developed a framework for constructing tissue-to-tissue coexpression networks between genes in the hypothalamus, liver or adipose tissue. These networks have a scale-free architecture and are strikingly independent of gene-gene coexpression networks that are constructed from more standard analyses of single tissues. This is the first systematic effort to study inter-tissue relationships and highlights genes in the hypothalamus that act as information relays in the control of peripheral tissues in obese mice. The subnetworks identified as specific to tissue-to-tissue interactions are enriched in genes that have obesity-relevant biological functions such as circadian rhythm, energy balance, stress response, or immune response. Conclusions Tissue-to-tissue networks enable the identification of disease-specific genes that respond to changes induced by different tissues and they also provide unique details regarding candidate genes for obesity that are identified in genome-wide association studies. Identifying such genes from single tissue analyses would be difficult or impossible

Planet Hunters. VI: An Independent Characterization of KOI-351 and Several Long Period Planet Candidates from the Kepler Archival Data

We report the discovery of 14 new transiting planet candidates in the Kepler field from the Planet Hunters citizen science program. None of these candidates overlapped with Kepler Objects of Interest (KOIs) at the time of submission. We report the discovery of one more addition to the six planet candidate system around KOI-351, making it the only seven planet candidate system from Kepler. Additionally, KOI-351 bears some resemblance to our own solar system, with the inner five planets ranging from Earth to mini-Neptune radii and the outer planets being gas giants; however, this system is very compact, with all seven planet candidates orbiting $\lesssim 1$ AU from their host star. A Hill stability test and an orbital integration of the system shows that the system is stable. Furthermore, we significantly add to the population of long period transiting planets; periods range from 124-904 days, eight of them more than one Earth year long. Seven of these 14 candidates reside in their host star's habitable zone.Comment: 27 pages, 6 figures, 5 tables, Accepted to AJ (in press) (updated title from original astro-ph submission

Fault-tolerant quantum computation of molecular observables

Over the past three decades significant reductions have been made to the cost of estimating ground-state energies of molecular Hamiltonians with quantum computers. However, comparatively little attention has been paid to estimating the expectation values of other observables with respect to said ground states, which is important for many industrial applications. In this work we present a novel expectation value estimation (EVE) quantum algorithm which can be applied to estimate the expectation values of arbitrary observables with respect to any of the system's eigenstates. In particular, we consider two variants of EVE: std-EVE, based on standard quantum phase estimation, and QSP-EVE, which utilizes quantum signal processing (QSP) techniques. We provide rigorous error analysis for both both variants and minimize the number of individual phase factors for QSPEVE. These error analyses enable us to produce constant-factor quantum resource estimates for both std-EVE and QSP-EVE across a variety of molecular systems and observables. For the systems considered, we show that QSP-EVE reduces (Toffoli) gate counts by up to three orders of magnitude and reduces qubit width by up to 25% compared to std-EVE. While estimated resource counts remain far too high for the first generations of fault-tolerant quantum computers, our estimates mark a first of their kind for both the application of expectation value estimation and modern QSP-based techniques

Starch safety in resuscitation

This correspondence is in response to the article: Parrish A, Blockman M, Starch safety in resuscitation − when will we ever learn? S Afr Med J 2013;103(6):365-367. [http://dx.doi.org/10.7196/samj.6969] in three parts:1. Starch safety in resuscitation: Withdrawal of hydroxyethyl starch solutions − a plea for evidence. R E Hodgson, G A Richards, A C Lundgren, M G L Spruyt, J P Pretorius, L R Mathiva, R Dickerson, P D Gopalan 2. Starch safety in resuscitation: Plea for evidence. M F M James, I A Joubert, J L Piercy3. Starch safety in resuscitation: Response from A Parrish and M Blockma