Spin versus Lattice Polaron: Prediction for Electron-Doped CaMnO3

CaMnO3 is a simple bi-partite antiferromagnet(AF) which can be continuously electron-doped up to LaMnO3. Electrons enter the doubly degenerate E_g subshell with spins aligned to the S=3/2 core of Mn^4+ (T_2g^3)$. We take the Hubbard and Hund energies to be effectively infinite. Our model Hamiltonian has two E_g orbitals per Mn atom, nearest neighbor hopping, nearest neighbor exchange coupling of the S=3/2 cores, and electron-phonon coupling of Mn orbitals to adjacent oxygen atoms. We solve this model for light doping. Electrons are confined in local ferromagnetic (FM) regions (spin polarons) where there proceeds an interesting competition between spin polarization (spin polarons) which enlarges the polaron, and lattice polarization (Jahn-Teller polarons) which makes it smaller. A symmetric 7-atom ferromagnetic cluster (Mn_7^27+) is the stable result, with net spin S=2 relative to the undoped AF. The distorted oxygen positions around the electron are predicted. The model also predicts a critical doping x_c=0.045 where the polaronic insulator becomes unstable relative to a FM metal.Comment: 9 pages with 7 embedded postscript figures and 2 table

Strain-modulated Slater-Mott crossover of pseudospin-half square-lattice in (SrIrO3)1/ (SrTiO3)1 superlattices

We report on the epitaxial strain-driven electronic and antiferromagnetic modulations of a pseudospin-half square lattice realized in superlattices of (SrIrO3)1/(SrTiO3)1. With increasing compressive strain, we find the low-temperature insulating behavior to be strongly suppressed with a corresponding systematic reduction of both the Neel temperature and the staggered moment. However, despite such a suppression, the system remains weakly insulating above the Neel transition. The emergence of metallicity is observed under large compressive strain but only at temperatures far above the N\'eel transition. These behaviors are characteristics of the Slater-Mott crossover regime, providing a unique experimental model system of the spin-half Hubbard Hamiltonian with a tunable intermediate coupling strength

Matched sizes of activating and inhibitory receptor/ligand pairs are required for optimal signal integration by human Natural Killer cells

It has been suggested that receptor-ligand complexes segregate or co-localise within immune synapses according to their size, and this is important for receptor signaling. Here, we set out to test the importance of receptor-ligand complex dimensions for immune surveillance of target cells by human Natural Killer (NK) cells. NK cell activation is regulated by integrating signals from activating receptors, such as NKG2D, and inhibitory receptors, such as KIR2DL1. Elongating the NKG2D ligand MICA reduced its ability to trigger NK cell activation. Conversely, elongation of KIR2DL1 ligand HLA-C reduced its ability to inhibit NK cells. Whereas normal-sized HLA-C was most effective at inhibiting activation by normal-length MICA, only elongated HLA-C could inhibit activation by elongated MICA. Moreover, HLA-C and MICA that were matched in size co-localised, whereas HLA-C and MICA that were different in size were segregated. These results demonstrate that receptor-ligand dimensions are important in NK cell recognition, and suggest that optimal integration of activating and inhibitory receptor signals requires the receptor-ligand complexes to have similar dimensions

Transcultural adaptation of the Emotion Matching Task: an emotion neuropsychological assessment

Emotions play a central role in children’s relationships. Deficits in emotional understanding have been associated with several neuropsychiatric disorders. In Brazil, however, few psychological instruments are available to assess young children’s emotional development. The objective of the present study was to make a transcultural adaptation of the Emotion Matching Task (EMT). The EMT was translated and adapted by a team of bilingual researches and then back-translated to English. The preliminary versions were assessed by EMT’s authors and by Brazilians specialized judges. The final version was applied in a sample of 50 children between three and six years of age and answered by nine judges in three Brazilian states. The results indicate good semantic equivalence and good agreement with the answers provided (κ= 0.88, Z=95.2, p<0.001). The final version of the EMT was considered appropriate and satisfactory

Wolbachia Prophage DNA Adenine Methyltransferase Genes in Different Drosophila-Wolbachia Associations

Wolbachia is an obligatory intracellular bacterium which often manipulates the reproduction of its insect and isopod hosts. In contrast, Wolbachia is an essential symbiont in filarial nematodes. Lately, Wolbachia has been implicated in genomic imprinting of host DNA through cytosine methylation. The importance of DNA methylation in cell fate and biology calls for in depth studing of putative methylation-related genes. We present a molecular and phylogenetic analysis of a putative DNA adenine methyltransferase encoded by a prophage in the Wolbachia genome. Two slightly different copies of the gene, met1 and met2, exhibit a different distribution over various Wolbachia strains. The met2 gene is present in the majority of strains, in wAu, however, it contains a frameshift caused by a 2 bp deletion. Phylogenetic analysis of the met2 DNA sequences suggests a long association of the gene with the Wolbachia host strains. In addition, our analysis provides evidence for previously unnoticed multiple infections, the detection of which is critical for the molecular elucidation of modification and/or rescue mechanism of cytoplasmic incompatibility

The Forest behind the Tree: Phylogenetic Exploration of a Dominant Mycobacterium tuberculosis Strain Lineage from a High Tuberculosis Burden Country

BACKGROUND: Genotyping of Mycobacterium tuberculosis isolates is a powerful tool for epidemiological control of tuberculosis (TB) and phylogenetic exploration of the pathogen. Standardized PCR-based typing, based on 15 to 24 mycobacterial interspersed repetitive unit-variable number of tandem repeat (MIRU-VNTR) loci combined with spoligotyping, has been shown to have adequate resolution power for tracing TB transmission and to be useful for predicting diverse strain lineages in European settings. Its informative value needs to be tested in high TB-burden countries, where the use of genotyping is often complicated by dominance of geographically specific, genetically homogeneous strain lineages. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: We tested this genotyping system for molecular epidemiological analysis of 369 M. tuberculosis isolates from 3 regions of Brazil, a high TB-burden country. Deligotyping, targeting 43 large sequence polymorphisms (LSPs), and the MIRU-VNTRplus identification database were used to assess phylogenetic predictions. High congruence between the different typing results consistently revealed the countrywide supremacy of the Latin-American-Mediterranean (LAM) lineage, comprised of three main branches. In addition to an already known RDRio branch, at least one other branch characterized by a phylogenetically informative LAM3 spoligo-signature seems to be globally distributed beyond Brazil. Nevertheless, by distinguishing 321 genotypes in this strain population, combined MIRU-VNTR typing and spoligotyping demonstrated the presence of multiple distinct clones. The use of 15 to 24 loci discriminated 21 to 25% more strains within the LAM lineage, compared to a restricted lineage-specific locus set suggested to be used after SNP analysis. Noteworthy, 23 of the 28 molecular clusters identified were exclusively composed of patient isolates from a same region, consistent with expected patterns of mostly local TB transmission. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: Standard MIRU-VNTR typing combined with spoligotyping can reveal epidemiologically meaningful clonal diversity behind a dominant M. tuberculosis strain lineage in a high TB-burden country and is useful to explore international phylogenetical ramifications

Cellular dissection of psoriasis for transcriptome analyses and the post-GWAS era

Abstract Background Genome-scale studies of psoriasis have been used to identify genes of potential relevance to disease mechanisms. For many identified genes, however, the cell type mediating disease activity is uncertain, which has limited our ability to design gene functional studies based on genomic findings. Methods We identified differentially expressed genes (DEGs) with altered expression in psoriasis lesions (n = 216 patients), as well as candidate genes near susceptibility loci from psoriasis GWAS studies. These gene sets were characterized based upon their expression across 10 cell types present in psoriasis lesions. Susceptibility-associated variation at intergenic (non-coding) loci was evaluated to identify sites of allele-specific transcription factor binding. Results Half of DEGs showed highest expression in skin cells, although the dominant cell type differed between psoriasis-increased DEGs (keratinocytes, 35%) and psoriasis-decreased DEGs (fibroblasts, 33%). In contrast, psoriasis GWAS candidates tended to have highest expression in immune cells (71%), with a significant fraction showing maximal expression in neutrophils (24%, P < 0.001). By identifying candidate cell types for genes near susceptibility loci, we could identify and prioritize SNPs at which susceptibility variants are predicted to influence transcription factor binding. This led to the identification of potentially causal (non-coding) SNPs for which susceptibility variants influence binding of AP-1, NF-κB, IRF1, STAT3 and STAT4. Conclusions These findings underscore the role of innate immunity in psoriasis and highlight neutrophils as a cell type linked with pathogenetic mechanisms. Assignment of candidate cell types to genes emerging from GWAS studies provides a first step towards functional analysis, and we have proposed an approach for generating hypotheses to explain GWAS hits at intergenic loci.http://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/109537/1/12920_2013_Article_485.pd