2,941 research outputs found
A synthetic Longitudinal Study dataset for England and Wales
This article describes the new synthetic England and Wales Longitudinal Study âspineâ dataset designed for teaching and experimentation purposes. In the United Kingdom, there exist three Census-based longitudinal micro-datasets, known collectively as the Longitudinal Studies. The England and Wales Longitudinal Study (LS) is a 1% sample of the population of England and Wales (around 500,000 individuals), linking individual person records from the 1971 to 2011 Censuses. The synthetic data presented contains a similar number of individuals to the original data and accurate longitudinal transitions between 2001 and 2011 for key demographic variables, but unlike the original data, is open access
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Uneven distribution of cobamide biosynthesis and dependence in bacteria predicted by comparative genomics.
The vitamin B12 family of cofactors known as cobamides are essential for a variety of microbial metabolisms. We used comparative genomics of 11,000 bacterial species to analyze the extent and distribution of cobamide production and use across bacteria. We find that 86% of bacteria in this data set have at least one of 15 cobamide-dependent enzyme families, but only 37% are predicted to synthesize cobamides de novo. The distribution of cobamide biosynthesis and use vary at the phylum level. While 57% of Actinobacteria are predicted to biosynthesize cobamides, only 0.6% of Bacteroidetes have the complete pathway, yet 96% of species in this phylum have cobamide-dependent enzymes. The form of cobamide produced by the bacteria could be predicted for 58% of cobamide-producing species, based on the presence of signature lower ligand biosynthesis and attachment genes. Our predictions also revealed that 17% of bacteria have partial biosynthetic pathways, yet have the potential to salvage cobamide precursors. Bacteria with a partial cobamide biosynthesis pathway include those in a newly defined, experimentally verified category of bacteria lacking the first step in the biosynthesis pathway. These predictions highlight the importance of cobamide and cobamide precursor salvaging as examples of nutritional dependencies in bacteria
Gene editing restores dystrophin expression in a canine model of Duchenne muscular dystrophy
Mutations in the gene encoding dystrophin, a protein that maintains muscle integrity and function, cause Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD). The deltaE50-MD dog model of DMD harbors a mutation corresponding to a mutational âhotspotâ in the human DMD gene. We used adeno-associated viruses to deliver CRISPR gene editing components to four dogs and examined dystrophin protein expression 6 weeks after intramuscular delivery (n = 2) or 8 weeks after systemic delivery (n = 2). After systemic delivery in skeletal muscle, dystrophin was restored to levels ranging from 3 to 90% of normal, depending on muscle type. In cardiac muscle, dystrophin levels in the dog receiving the highest dose reached 92% of normal. The treated dogs also showed improved muscle histology. These large-animal data support the concept that, with further development, gene editing approaches may prove clinically useful for the treatment of DMD
Bound states of magnons in the S=1/2 quantum spin ladder
We study the excitation spectrum of the two-leg antiferromagnetic S=1/2
Heisenberg ladder. Our approach is based on the description of the excitations
as triplets above a strong-coupling singlet ground state. The quasiparticle
spectrum is calculated by treating the excitations as a dilute Bose gas with
infinite on-site repulsion. We find singlet (S=0) and triplet (S=1)
two-particle bound states of the elementary triplets. We argue that bound
states generally exist in any dimerized quantum spin model.Comment: 4 REVTeX pages, 4 Postscript figure
Cohort Profile: The Health Survey for England
To monitor the health of the public in England, UK, the Central Health Monitoring Unit within the UK Department of Health commissioned an annual health examination survey, which became known as the Health Survey for England (HSE). The first survey was completed in 1991. The HSE covers all of England and is a nationally representative sample of those residing at private residential addresses. Each survey year consists of a new sample of private residential addresses and people. The HSE collects detailed information on mental and physical health, health-related behaviour, and objective physical and biological measures in relation to demographic and socio-economic characteristics of people aged 16 years and over at private residential addresses. There are two parts to the HSE; an interviewer visit, to conduct an interview and measure height and weight, then a nurse visit, to carry out further measurements and take biological samples. Since 1994, survey participants aged 16 years and over have been asked for consent to follow-up through linkage to mortality and cancer registration data, and from 2003, to the Hospital Episode Statistics database, thus converting annual cross-sectional survey data into a longitudinal study. Annual survey data (1994â2009) are available through the UK Data Archive
D-Terms from Generalized NS-NS Fluxes in Type II
Orientifolds of type II string theory admit a certain set of generalized
NS-NS fluxes, including not only the three-form field strength H, but also
metric and non-geometric fluxes, which are related to H by T-duality. We
describe in general how these fluxes appear as parameters of an effective N=1
supergravity theory in four dimensions, and in particular how certain
generalized NS-NS fluxes can act as charges for R-R axions, leading to D-term
contributions to the effective scalar potential. We illustrate these phenomena
in type IIB with the example of a certain orientifold of T^6/Z_4.Comment: 31+1 pages, uses utarticle.cls; v2: references adde
An XMM-Newton Observation of the Local Bubble Using a Shadowing Filament in the Southern Galactic Hemisphere
We present an analysis of the X-ray spectrum of the Local Bubble, obtained by
simultaneously analyzing spectra from two XMM-Newton pointings on and off an
absorbing filament in the Southern galactic hemisphere (b ~ -45 deg). We use
the difference in the Galactic column density in these two directions to deduce
the contributions of the unabsorbed foreground emission due to the Local
Bubble, and the absorbed emission from the Galactic halo and the extragalactic
background. We find the Local Bubble emission is consistent with emission from
a plasma in collisional ionization equilibrium with a temperature and an emission measure of 0.018 cm^{-6} pc. Our
measured temperature is in good agreement with values obtained from ROSAT
All-Sky Survey data, but is lower than that measured by other recent XMM-Newton
observations of the Local Bubble, which find
(although for some of these observations it is possible that the foreground
emission is contaminated by non-Local Bubble emission from Loop I). The higher
temperature observed towards other directions is inconsistent with our data,
when combined with a FUSE measurement of the Galactic halo O VI intensity. This
therefore suggests that the Local Bubble is thermally anisotropic.
Our data are unable to rule out a non-equilibrium model in which the plasma
is underionized. However, an overionized recombining plasma model, while
observationally acceptable for certain densities and temperatures, generally
gives an implausibly young age for the Local Bubble (\la 6 \times 10^5 yr).Comment: Accepted for publication in the Astrophysical Journal. 16 pages, 9
figure
Generalized Flux Vacua
We consider type II string theory compactified on a symmetric T^6/Z_2
orientifold. We study a general class of discrete deformations of the resulting
four-dimensional supergravity theory, including gaugings arising from geometric
and "nongeometric'' fluxes, as well as the usual R-R and NS-NS fluxes. Solving
the equations of motion associated with the resulting N = 1 superpotential, we
find parametrically controllable infinite families of supersymmetric vacua with
all moduli stabilized. We also describe some aspects of the distribution of
generic solutions to the SUSY equations of motion for this model, and note in
particular the existence of an apparently infinite number of solutions in a
finite range of the parameter space of the four-dimensional effective theory.Comment: 30 pages, 4 .eps figures; v2, reference adde
Windrush migrants in the ONS Longitudinal Study
The ONS Longitudinal Study can be used to estimate the number of Windrush migrants in ways which go beyond the methods based solely on the most recent census, or on the Labour Force Survey. CeLSIUS estimate that in 2011 there were around 1,735 Windrush children who had entered the country (aged under 16) prior to 1971, and 3,744 migrants overall, who did not hold any passport
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