Theory of second harmonic generation in few-layered MoS2

Recent experimental results have demonstrated the ability of monolayer MoS$_2$ to efficiently generate second harmonic fields with susceptibilities between 0.1 and 100 nm/V. However, no theoretical calculations exist with which to interpret these findings. In particular, it is of interest to theoretically estimate the modulus of the second harmonic response, since experimental reports on this differ by almost three orders of magnitude. Here, we present single-particle calculations of the second harmonic response based on a tight-binding band structure. We compare directly with recent experimental findings and include in the discussion also spectral features and the effects of multiple layers

Vector Flow Imaging Compared with Conventional Doppler Ultrasound and Thermodilution for Estimation of Blood Flow in the Ascending Aorta

Transverse oscillation (TO) is a real-time ultrasound vector flow method implemented on a commercial scanner. The TO setup was examined on a flowrig with constant and pulsatile flow. Subsequently, 25 patients undergoing cardiac bypass surgery were scanned intraoperatively with TO on the ascending aorta and compared to transesophageal echocardiography (TEE) and pulmonary artery catheter thermodilution (PACTD). On the flowrig, TO had a precision of 5.5%, 9.4% and 14.7%, a percentage error of 18.2%, 14.6% and 40.7%, and a mean bias of 0.4 cm/s, 36.8 ml/min and 32.4 ml/min for velocity and flow rate (constant and pulsatile) estimation. The correlation coefficients for all flowrig evaluations were 0.99 indicating systematic bias. After bias correction, the percentage error was reduced to 11.5%, 12.6% and 15.9% for velocity and flow rate (constant and pulsatile) estimation. In the in vivo setup, TO, TEE, and PACTD had a precision of 21.9%, 13.7%, and 12.0%. TO compared with TEE and PACTD had a mean bias of 12.6 cm/s and −0.08 l/min, and a percentage error of 23.4%, and 36.7%, respectively. The percentage error was reduced to 22.9% for the TEE comparison, but increased to 43.8% for the PACTD comparison, after correction for the systematic bias found in the flowrig. TO is a reliable and precise method for velocity and flow rate estimation on a flowrig. However, TO with the present setup, is not interchangeable with PACTD for cardiac volume flow estimation, but is a reliable and precise angle-independent ultrasound alternative for velocity estimation of cardiac flow. </jats:p

Associations between abdominal adipose tissue, reproductive span, and brain characteristics in post-menopausal women

The menopause transition involves changes in oestrogens and adipose tissue distribution, which may influence female brain health post-menopause. Although increased central fat accumulation is linked to risk of cardiometabolic diseases, adipose tissue also serves as the primary biosynthesis site of oestrogens post-menopause. It is unclear whether different types of adipose tissue play diverging roles in female brain health post-menopause, and whether this depends on lifetime oestrogen exposure, which can have lasting effects on the brain and body even after menopause. Using the UK Biobank sample, we investigated associations between brain characteristics and visceral adipose tissue (VAT) and abdominal subcutaneous adipose tissue (ASAT) in 10,251 post-menopausal females, and assessed whether the relationships varied depending on length of reproductive span (age at menarche to age at menopause). To parse the effects of common genetic variation, we computed polygenic scores for reproductive span. The results showed that higher VAT and ASAT were both associated with higher grey and white matter brain age, and greater white matter hyperintensity load. The associations varied positively with reproductive span, indicating more prominent associations between adipose tissue and brain measures in females with a longer reproductive span. The effects were in general small, but could not be fully explained by genetic variation or relevant confounders. Our findings indicate that associations between abdominal adipose tissue and brain health post-menopause may partly depend on individual differences in cumulative oestrogen exposure during reproductive years, emphasising the complexity of neural and endocrine ageing processes in females

Short interferon and ribavirin treatment for HCV genotype 2 or 3 infection: NORDynamIC trial and real-life experience

Peer reviewe

Activation of alternative Jdp2 promoters and functional protein isoforms in T-cell lymphomas by retroviral insertion mutagenesis

Retroviral insertional mutagenesis has been instrumental for the identification of genes important in cancer development. The molecular mechanisms involved in retroviral-mediated activation of proto-oncogenes influence the distribution of insertions within specific regions during tumorigenesis and hence may point to novel gene structures. From a retroviral tagging screen on tumors of 1767 SL3-3 MLV-infected BALB/c mice, intron 2 of the AP-1 repressor Jdp2 locus was found frequently targeted by proviruses resulting in upregulation of non-canonical RNA subspecies. We identified several promoter regions within 1000 bp upstream of exon 3 that allowed for the production of Jdp2 protein isoforms lacking the histone acetylase inhibitory domain INHAT present in canonical Jdp2. The novel Jdp2 isoforms localized to the nucleus and over-expression in murine fibroblast cells induced cell death similar to canonic Jdp2. When expressed in the context of oncogenic NRAS both full length Jdp2 and the shorter isoforms increased anchorage-independent growth. Our results demonstrate a biological function of Jdp2 lacking the INHAT domain and suggest a post-genomic application for the use of retroviral tagging data in identifying new gene products with a potential role in tumorigenesis