Coordination and chemical effects on the structural, electronic and magnetic properties in Mn pnictides

Simple structures of MnX binary compounds, namely hexagonal NiAs and zincblende, are studied as a function of the anion (X = Sb, As, P) by means of the all-electron FLAPW method within local spin density and generalized gradient approximations. An accurate analysis of the structural, electronic and magnetic properties reveals that the cubic structure greatly favours the magnetic alignment in these compounds leading to high magnetic moments and nearly half-metallic behaviour for MnSb and MnAs. The effect of the anion chemical species is related to both its size and the possible hybridization with the Mn $d$ states; both contributions are seen to hinder the magnitude of the magnetic moment for small and light anions. Our results are in very good agreement with experiment - where available - and show that the generalized gradient approximation is essential to correctly recover both the equilibrium volume and magnetic moment.Comment: 18 pages and 4 figures, Latex-file, submitted to Phys.Rev.

Influence of uncorrelated overlayers on the magnetism in thin itinerant-electron films

The influence of uncorrelated (nonmagnetic) overlayers on the magnetic properties of thin itinerant-electron films is investigated within the single-band Hubbard model. The Coulomb correlation between the electrons in the ferromagnetic layers is treated by using the spectral density approach (SDA). It is found that the presence of nonmagnetic layers has a strong effect on the magnetic properties of thin films. The Curie temperatures of very thin films are modified by the uncorrelated overlayers. The quasiparticle density of states is used to analyze the results. In addition, the coupling between the ferromagnetic layers and the nonmagnetic layers is discussed in detail. The coupling depends on the band occupation of the nonmagnetic layers, while it is almost independent of the number of the nonmagnetic layers. The induced polarization in the nonmagnetic layers shows a long-range decreasing oscillatory behavior and it depends on the coupling between ferromagnetic and nonmagnetic layers.Comment: 9 pages, RevTex, 6 figures, for related work see: http://orion.physik.hu-berlin.d

RANTES/CCL5 and Risk for Coronary Events: Results from the MONICA/KORA Augsburg Case-Cohort, Athero-Express and CARDIoGRAM Studies

BACKGROUND: The chemokine RANTES (regulated on activation, normal T-cell expressed and secreted)/CCL5 is involved in the pathogenesis of cardiovascular disease in mice, whereas less is known in humans. We hypothesised that its relevance for atherosclerosis should be reflected by associations between CCL5 gene variants, RANTES serum concentrations and protein levels in atherosclerotic plaques and risk for coronary events. METHODS AND FINDINGS: We conducted a case-cohort study within the population-based MONICA/KORA Augsburg studies. Baseline RANTES serum levels were measured in 363 individuals with incident coronary events and 1,908 non-cases (mean follow-up: 10.2±4.8 years). Cox proportional hazard models adjusting for age, sex, body mass index, metabolic factors and lifestyle factors revealed no significant association between RANTES and incident coronary events (HR [95% CI] for increasing RANTES tertiles 1.0, 1.03 [0.75-1.42] and 1.11 [0.81-1.54]). None of six CCL5 single nucleotide polymorphisms and no common haplotype showed significant associations with coronary events. Also in the CARDIoGRAM study (>22,000 cases, >60,000 controls), none of these CCL5 SNPs was significantly associated with coronary artery disease. In the prospective Athero-Express biobank study, RANTES plaque levels were measured in 606 atherosclerotic lesions from patients who underwent carotid endarterectomy. RANTES content in atherosclerotic plaques was positively associated with macrophage infiltration and inversely associated with plaque calcification. However, there was no significant association between RANTES content in plaques and risk for coronary events (mean follow-up 2.8±0.8 years). CONCLUSIONS: High RANTES plaque levels were associated with an unstable plaque phenotype. However, the absence of associations between (i) RANTES serum levels, (ii) CCL5 genotypes and (iii) RANTES content in carotid plaques and either coronary artery disease or incident coronary events in our cohorts suggests that RANTES may not be a novel coronary risk biomarker. However, the potential relevance of RANTES levels in platelet-poor plasma needs to be investigated in further studies

RANTES/CCL5 and risk for coronary events: Results from the MONICA/KORA Augsburg case-cohort, Athero-express and CARDIoGRAM studies

Background: The chemokine RANTES (regulated on activation, normal T-cell expressed and secreted)/CCL5 is involved in the pathogenesis of cardiovascular disease in mice, whereas less is known in humans. We hypothesised that its relevance for atherosclerosis should be reflected by associations between CCL5 gene variants, RANTES serum concentrations and protein levels in atherosclerotic plaques and risk for coronary events. Methods and Findings: We conducted a case-cohort study within the population-based MONICA/KORA Augsburg studies. Baseline RANTES serum levels were measured in 363 individuals with incident coronary events and 1,908 non-cases (mean follow-up: 10.2±

Information and digital literacies; a review of concepts

A detailed literature reviewing, analysing the multiple and confusing concepts around the ideas of information literacy and digital literacy at the start of the millennium. The article was well-received, and is my most highly-cited work, with over 1100 citations

Mapping and characterization of structural variation in 17,795 human genomes

A key goal of whole-genome sequencing for studies of human genetics is to interrogate all forms of variation, including single-nucleotide variants, small insertion or deletion (indel) variants and structural variants. However, tools and resources for the study of structural variants have lagged behind those for smaller variants. Here we used a scalable pipeline1 to map and characterize structural variants in 17,795 deeply sequenced human genomes. We publicly release site-frequency data to create the largest, to our knowledge, whole-genome-sequencing-based structural variant resource so far. On average, individuals carry 2.9 rare structural variants that alter coding regions; these variants affect the dosage or structure of 4.2 genes and account for 4.0–11.2% of rare high-impact coding alleles. Using a computational model, we estimate that structural variants account for 17.2% of rare alleles genome-wide, with predicted deleterious effects that are equivalent to loss-of-function coding alleles; approximately 90% of such structural variants are noncoding deletions (mean 19.1 per genome). We report 158,991 ultra-rare structural variants and show that 2% of individuals carry ultra-rare megabase-scale structural variants, nearly half of which are balanced or complex rearrangements. Finally, we infer the dosage sensitivity of genes and noncoding elements, and reveal trends that relate to element class and conservation. This work will help to guide the analysis and interpretation of structural variants in the era of whole-genome sequencing

The Immune Landscape of Cancer

We performed an extensive immunogenomic anal-ysis of more than 10,000 tumors comprising 33diverse cancer types by utilizing data compiled byTCGA. Across cancer types, we identified six im-mune subtypes\u2014wound healing, IFN-gdominant,inflammatory, lymphocyte depleted, immunologi-cally quiet, and TGF-bdominant\u2014characterized bydifferences in macrophage or lymphocyte signa-tures, Th1:Th2 cell ratio, extent of intratumoral het-erogeneity, aneuploidy, extent of neoantigen load,overall cell proliferation, expression of immunomod-ulatory genes, and prognosis. Specific drivermutations correlated with lower (CTNNB1,NRAS,orIDH1) or higher (BRAF,TP53,orCASP8) leukocytelevels across all cancers. Multiple control modalitiesof the intracellular and extracellular networks (tran-scription, microRNAs, copy number, and epigeneticprocesses) were involved in tumor-immune cell inter-actions, both across and within immune subtypes.Our immunogenomics pipeline to characterize theseheterogeneous tumors and the resulting data areintended to serve as a resource for future targetedstudies to further advance the field

A Comprehensive Pan-Cancer Molecular Study of Gynecologic and Breast Cancers

We analyzed molecular data on 2,579 tumors from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) of four gynecological types plus breast. Our aims were to identify shared and unique molecular features, clinically significant subtypes, and potential therapeutic targets. We found 61 somatic copy-number alterations (SCNAs) and 46 significantly mutated genes (SMGs). Eleven SCNAs and 11 SMGs had not been identified in previous TCGA studies of the individual tumor types. We found functionally significant estrogen receptor-regulated long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) and gene/lncRNA interaction networks. Pathway analysis identified subtypes with high leukocyte infiltration, raising potential implications for immunotherapy. Using 16 key molecular features, we identified five prognostic subtypes and developed a decision tree that classified patients into the subtypes based on just six features that are assessable in clinical laboratories. By performing molecular analyses of 2,579 TCGA gynecological (OV, UCEC, CESC, and UCS) and breast tumors, Berger et al. identify five prognostic subtypes using 16 key molecular features and propose a decision tree based on six clinically assessable features that classifies patients into the subtypes

Synthesis and characterization of a poly(para-phenyleneethynylene)-block-poly(ethylene oxide) rod-coil block copolymer

The synthesis of the poly(para-phenyleneethynylene)-block-poly(ethylene oxide) block copolymer (PPE-b-PEO) (1) via condensation of endfunctionalized poly(para-phenyleneethynylene) (PPE) (5) and poly(ethylene oxide) monomethyl ether (PEO) is reported. This is achieved by the initial synthesis of a PPE homopolymer with quantitative terminal functionalization, as proven by 1H NMR and field desorption mass spectrometry (FD-MS). Reaction of the latter with PEO affords the block copolymer 1, which was characterized by 1H NMR spectroscopy, FD-MS and gel permeation chromatography (GPC). Furthermore it is shown that matrix assisted laser desorption ionization-time of flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF-MS) is a suitable method to investigate PPE-b-PEO with respect to molecular weights and copolymer composition.FLWINinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishe

Synthesis and Characterization of Poly[2]-catenanes Containing Rigid Catenanes

info:eu-repo/semantics/publishe