At the borderline of shape coexistence: Mo and Ru

Background: Even-even isotopes of Mo (Z = 42) and Ru (Z = 44) are nuclei close to the subshell closure at Z = 40, where shape coexistence plays a significant role. As a result, their spectroscopic properties are expected to resemble those of Sr (Z = 38) and Zr (Z = 40). Exploring the evolution of these properties as they move away from the subshell closure is of great interest. Purpose: The purpose of this study is to reproduce the spectroscopic properties of even-even 96–110 42Mo and 98–114 44Ru isotopes and to determine the influence of shape coexistence. Method: We employed the interacting boson model with configuration mixing as the framework to calculate all the observables for Mo and Ru isotopes. We considered two types of configurations: 0-particle–0-hole and 2-particle–2-hole excitations. The model parameters were determined using a least-squares fitting to match the excitation energies and the B(E2) transition rates. Results: We obtained the excitation energies, B(E2) values, two-neutron separation energies, nuclear radii, and isotope shifts for the entire chain of isotopes. Our theoretical results show good agreement with experimental data. Furthermore, we conducted a detailed analysis of the wave functions and obtained the mean-field energy surfaces and the nuclear deformation parameter, β, for all considered isotopes. Conclusions: Our findings reveal that shape coexistence plays a significant role inMo isotopes, with the crossing of intruder and regular configurations occurring at neutron number 60 (A = 102), which induces a quantum phase transition. In contrast, in Ru isotopes, the intruder states have minimal influence, remaining at higher energies. However, at neutron number 60, also a quantum phase transition occurs in Ru isotopes.Consejería de Economía, Conocimiento, Empresas y Universidad de la Junta de Andalucía (Spain) under Groups FQM-160FQM-370No. P20-00617No. P20-01247No. US-1380840Projects No. PID2019-104002GB-C21No. PID2019-104002GB-C22No. PID2020-114687GB-I00No. PID2022-136228NB-C21No. PID2022-136228NB-C22MCIN/AEI/10.13039/50110001103ERDF A way of making EuropeCEAFMC and the Universidad de Huelva High Performance Computer (HPC@UHU)ERDF/MINECO Project No. UNHU-15CE-284

At the borderline of shape coexistence: Mo and Ru

Background Even-even isotopes of Mo ($Z=42$) and Ru ($Z=44$) are nuclei close to the subshell closure at $Z=40$, where shape coexistence plays a significant role. As a result, their spectroscopic properties are expected to resemble those of Sr ($Z=38$) and Zr ($Z=40$). Exploring the evolution of these properties as they move away from the subshell closure is of great interest. Purpose The purpose of this study is to reproduce the spectroscopic properties of even-even $^{96-110}_{\phantom{961-}42}$Mo and $^{98-114}_{\phantom{961-}44}$Ru isotopes and to determine the influence of shape coexistence. Method We have employed the interacting boson model with configuration mixing as the framework to calculate all the observables for Mo and Ru isotopes. We have considered two types of configurations: 0-particle-0-hole and 2-particle-2-hole excitations. The model parameters have been determined using a least-squares fitting to match the excitation energies and the $B(E2)$ transition rates. Results We have obtained the excitation energies, $B(E2)$ values, two-neutron separation energies, nuclear radii, and isotope shifts for the entire chain of isotopes. Our theoretical results have shown good agreement with experimental data. Furthermore, we have conducted a detailed analysis of the wave functions and obtained the mean-field energy surfaces and the nuclear deformation parameter, $\beta$, for all considered isotopes. Conclusions Our findings reveal that shape coexistence plays a significant role in Mo isotopes, with the crossing of intruder and regular configurations occurring at neutron number $60$ ($A=102$), which induces a quantum phase transition. In contrast, in Ru isotopes, the intruder states have minimal influence, remaining at higher energies. However, at neutron number $60$, also a quantum phase transition occurs in Ru isotopes.Comment: Accepted for publication in Physical Review C. arXiv admin note: text overlap with arXiv:2203.0532

At the Borderline of Shape Coexistence: Mo and Ru

Background: Even-even isotopes of Mo (Z=42) and Ru (Z=44) are nuclei close to the subshell closure at Z=40, where shape coexistence plays a significant role. As a result, their spectroscopic properties are expected to resemble those of Sr (Z=38) and Zr (Z=40). Exploring the evolution of these properties as they move away from the subshell closure is of great interest. Purpose: The purpose of this study is to reproduce the spectroscopic properties of even-even Mo961-4296-110 and Ru961-4498-114 isotopes and to determine the influence of shape coexistence. Method: We employed the interacting boson model with configuration mixing as the framework to calculate all the observables for Mo and Ru isotopes. We considered two types of configurations: 0-particle-0-hole and 2-particle-2-hole excitations. The model parameters were determined using a least-squares fitting to match the excitation energies and the B(E2) transition rates. Results: We obtained the excitation energies, B(E2) values, two-neutron separation energies, nuclear radii, and isotope shifts for the entire chain of isotopes. Our theoretical results show good agreement with experimental data. Furthermore, we conducted a detailed analysis of the wave functions and obtained the mean-field energy surfaces and the nuclear deformation parameter, β, for all considered isotopes. Conclusions: Our findings reveal that shape coexistence plays a significant role in Mo isotopes, with the crossing of intruder and regular configurations occurring at neutron number 60 (A=102), which induces a quantum phase transition. In contrast, in Ru isotopes, the intruder states have minimal influence, remaining at higher energies. However, at neutron number 60, also a quantum phase transition occurs in Ru isotopes.Junta de Andalucía P20-00617, P20-01247, US-1380840Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación PID2019-104002GB-C21, PID2019-104002GB-C22, PID2020-114687GB-I00, PID2022-136228NB-C21, PID2022-136228NB-C22Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad UNHU-15CE-284

Transposon Mutagenesis in Chlamydia trachomatis Identifies CT339 as a ComEC Homolog Important for DNA Uptake and Lateral Gene Transfer

Transposon mutagenesis is a widely applied and powerful genetic tool for the discovery of genes associated with selected phenotypes. Chlamydia trachomatis is a clinically significant, obligate intracellular bacterium for which many conventional genetic tools and capabilities have been developed only recently. This report describes the successful development and application of a Himar transposon mutagenesis system for generating single-insertion mutant clones of C. trachomatis. This system was used to generate a pool of 105 transposon mutant clones that included insertions in genes encoding flavin adenine dinucleotide (FAD)-dependent monooxygenase (C. trachomatis 148 [ct148]), deubiquitinase (ct868), and competence-associated (ct339) proteins. A subset of Tn mutant clones was evaluated for growth differences under cell culture conditions, revealing that most phenocopied the parental strain; however, some strains displayed subtle and yet significant differences in infectious progeny production and inclusion sizes. Bacterial burden studies in mice also supported the idea that a FAD-dependent monooxygenase (ct148) and a deubiquitinase (ct868) were important for these infections. The ct339 gene encodes a hypothetical protein with limited sequence similarity to the DNA-uptake protein ComEC. A transposon insertion in ct339 rendered the mutant incapable of DNA acquisition during recombination experiments. This observation, along with in situ structural analysis, supports the idea that this protein is playing a role in the fundamental process of lateral gene transfer similar to that of ComEC. In all, the development of the Himar transposon system for Chlamydia provides an effective genetic tool for further discovery of genes that are important for basic biology and pathogenesis aspects.S.D.L., Z.E.D., K.S.H., S.B., R.J.S., and P.S.H. were funded by NIH (AI126785)J.W. and P.S.H. were supported by NIH AI125929. P.S.H. was also supported by P20GM113117Support for genomic sequencing was supplemented by P20GM10363

Federated learning enables big data for rare cancer boundary detection

Although machine learning (ML) has shown promise in numerous domains, there are concerns about generalizability to out-of-sample data. This is currently addressed by centrally sharing ample, and importantly diverse, data from multiple sites. However, such centralization is challenging to scale (or even not feasible) due to various limitations. Federated ML (FL) provides an alternative to train accurate and generalizable ML models, by only sharing numerical model updates. Here we present findings from the largest FL study to-date, involving data from 71 healthcare institutions across 6 continents, to generate an automatic tumor boundary detector for the rare disease of glioblastoma, utilizing the largest dataset of such patients ever used in the literature (25,256 MRI scans from 6,314 patients). We demonstrate a 33% improvement over a publicly trained model to delineate the surgically targetable tumor, and 23% improvement over the tumor's entire extent. We anticipate our study to: 1) enable more studies in healthcare informed by large and diverse data, ensuring meaningful results for rare diseases and underrepresented populations, 2) facilitate further quantitative analyses for glioblastoma via performance optimization of our consensus model for eventual public release, and 3) demonstrate the effectiveness of FL at such scale and task complexity as a paradigm shift for multi-site collaborations, alleviating the need for data sharing

A Study of Residential Housing Demand in India

The empirical research on housing market in India is scarce due to the paucity of information. The monograph on “A Study of Residential Housing Demand in India” is the outcome of a Study conducted by the National Institute of Bank Management (NIBM) for National Housing Bank (NHB) and partially addresses advice of Reserve Bank of India to NHB on studying the housing and real estate sector. This study provides exhaustive empirical research and detailed analysis (both micro and macro level) of current status and future growth potential of housing industry in India, its back-ward and forward linkages, financing structure and nature of underlying risk in the housing market in India

A Study of Residential Housing Demand in India

The empirical research on housing market in India is scarce due to the paucity of information. The monograph on “A Study of Residential Housing Demand in India” is the outcome of a Study conducted by the National Institute of Bank Management (NIBM) for National Housing Bank (NHB) and partially addresses advice of Reserve Bank of India to NHB on studying the housing and real estate sector. This study provides exhaustive empirical research and detailed analysis (both micro and macro level) of current status and future growth potential of housing industry in India, its back-ward and forward linkages, financing structure and nature of underlying risk in the housing market in India

High-Level Why-Not Explanations Using Ontologies

We propose a novel foundational framework for why-not explanations, that is, explanations for why a tuple is missing from a query result. Our why-not explanations leverage concepts from an ontology to provide high-level and meaningful reasons for why a tuple is missing from the result of a query. A key algorithmic problem in our framework is that of computing a most-general explanation for a why-not question, relative to an ontology, which can either be provided by the user, or it may be automatically derived from the data and/or schema. We study the complexity of this problem and associated problems, and present concrete algorithms for computing why-not explanations. In the case where an external ontology is provided, we first show that the problem of deciding the existence of an explanation to a why-not question is NP-complete in general. However, the problem is solvable in polynomial time for queries of bounded arity, provided that the ontology is specified in a suitable language, such as a member of the DL-Lite family of description logics, which allows for efficient concept subsumption checking. Furthermore, we show that a most-general explanation can be computed in polynomial time in this case. In addition, we propose a method for deriving a suitable (virtual) ontology from a database and/or a data workspace schema, and we present an algorithm for computing a most-general explanation to a why-not question, relative to such ontologies. This algorithm runs in polynomial-time in the case when concepts are defined in a selection-free language, or if the underlying schema is fixed. Finally, we also study the problem of computing short most-general explanations, and we briefly discuss alternative definitions of what it means to be an explanation, and to be most general.Comment: in PODS 201

The plight of the sense-making ape

This is a selective review of the published literature on object-choice tasks, where participants use directional cues to find hidden objects. This literature comprises the efforts of researchers to make sense of the sense-making capacities of our nearest living relatives. This chapter is written to highlight some nonsensical conclusions that frequently emerge from this research. The data suggest that when apes are given approximately the same sense-making opportunities as we provide our children, then they will easily make sense of our social signals. The ubiquity of nonsensical contemporary scientific claims to the effect that humans are essentially--or inherently--more capable than other great apes in the understanding of simple directional cues is, itself, a testament to the power of preconceived ideas on human perception

LEDGF1-326 Decreases P23H and Wild Type Rhodopsin Aggregates and P23H Rhodopsin Mediated Cell Damage in Human Retinal Pigment Epithelial Cells

P23H rhodopsin, a mutant rhodopsin, is known to aggregate and cause retinal degeneration. However, its effects on retinal pigment epithelial (RPE) cells are unknown. The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of P23H rhodopsin in RPE cells and further assess whether LEDGF(1-326), a protein devoid of heat shock elements of LEDGF, a cell survival factor, reduces P23H rhodopsin aggregates and any associated cellular damage.ARPE-19 cells were transiently transfected/cotransfected with pLEDGF(1-326) and/or pWT-Rho (wild type)/pP23H-Rho. Rhodopsin mediated cellular damage and rescue by LEDGF(1-326) was assessed using cell viability, cell proliferation, and confocal microscopy assays. Rhodopsin monomers, oligomers, and their reduction in the presence of LEDGF(1-326) were quantified by western blot analysis. P23H rhodopsin mRNA levels in the presence and absence of LEDGF(1-326) was determined by real time quantitative PCR.P23H rhodopsin reduced RPE cell viability and cell proliferation in a dose dependent manner, and disrupted the nuclear material. LEDGF(1-326) did not alter P23H rhodopsin mRNA levels, reduced its oligomers, and significantly increased RPE cell viability as well as proliferation, while reducing nuclear damage. WT rhodopsin formed oligomers, although to a smaller extent than P23H rhodopsin. Further, LEDGF(1-326) decreased WT rhodopsin aggregates.P23H rhodopsin as well as WT rhodopsin form aggregates in RPE cells and LEDGF(1-326) decreases these aggregates. Further, LEDGF(1-326) reduces the RPE cell damage caused by P23H rhodopsin. LEDGF(1-326) might be useful in treating cellular damage associated with protein aggregation diseases such as retinitis pigmentosa