Identification of the early and late responder genes during the generation of induced pluripotent stem cells from mouse fibroblasts

111Ysciescopu

Extremely long quasiparticle spin lifetimes in superconducting aluminium using MgO tunnel spin injectors

There has been an intense search in recent years for long-lived spin-polarized carriers for spintronic and quantum-computing devices. Here we report that spin polarized quasi-particles in superconducting aluminum layers have surprisingly long spin-lifetimes, nearly a million times longer than in their normal state. The lifetime is determined from the suppression of the aluminum's superconductivity resulting from the accumulation of spin polarized carriers in the aluminum layer using tunnel spin injectors. A Hanle effect, observed in the presence of small in-plane orthogonal fields, is shown to be quantitatively consistent with the presence of long-lived spin polarized quasi-particles. Our experiments show that the superconducting state can be significantly modified by small electric currents, much smaller than the critical current, which is potentially useful for devices involving superconducting qubits

First Results from the AMoRE-Pilot neutrinoless double beta decay experiment

The Advanced Molybdenum-based Rare process Experiment (AMoRE) aims to search for neutrinoless double beta decay (0$\nu\beta\beta$) of $^{100}$Mo with $\sim$100 kg of $^{100}$Mo-enriched molybdenum embedded in cryogenic detectors with a dual heat and light readout. At the current, pilot stage of the AMoRE project we employ six calcium molybdate crystals with a total mass of 1.9 kg, produced from $^{48}$Ca-depleted calcium and $^{100}$Mo-enriched molybdenum ($^{48\textrm{depl}}$Ca$^{100}$MoO$_4$). The simultaneous detection of heat(phonon) and scintillation (photon) signals is realized with high resolution metallic magnetic calorimeter sensors that operate at milli-Kelvin temperatures. This stage of the project is carried out in the Yangyang underground laboratory at a depth of 700 m. We report first results from the AMoRE-Pilot $0\nu\beta\beta$ search with a 111 kg$\cdot$d live exposure of $^{48\textrm{depl}}$Ca$^{100}$MoO$_4$ crystals. No evidence for $0\nu\beta\beta$ decay of $^{100}$Mo is found, and a upper limit is set for the half-life of 0$\nu\beta\beta$ of $^{100}$Mo of $T^{0\nu}_{1/2} > 9.5\times10^{22}$ y at 90% C.L.. This limit corresponds to an effective Majorana neutrino mass limit in the range $\langle m_{\beta\beta}\rangle\le(1.2-2.1)$ eV

Cortical thinning in obsessive compulsive disorder

Abstract: Although studies of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) over the last 20 years have suggested abnormalities in frontal-subcortical circuitry, evidences of structural abnormalities in those areas are still imperfect and contradictory. With recent advances in neuroimaging technology, it is now possible to study cortical thickness based on cortical surfaces, which offers a direct quantitative index of cortical mass. Using the constrained Laplacian-based automated segmentation with proximities (CLASP) algorithm, we measured cortical thickness of 55 patients with OCD (33 men and 22 women) and 52 ageand sex-matched healthy volunteers (32 men and 20 women). We found multiple regions of cortical thinning in OCD patients compared to the normal control group. Patients with OCD had thinner left inferior frontal, left middle frontal, left precentral, left superior temporal, left parahippocampal, left orbitofrontal, and left lingual cortices. Most thinned regions were located in the left ventral cortex system, providing a new perspective that this ventral cortical system may be involved in the pathophysiology of OCD

Association between cord blood 25-hydroxyvitamin D concentrations and respiratory tract infections in the first 6 months of age in a Korean population: a birth cohort study (COCOA)

PurposePrevious studies suggest that the concentration of 25-hydroxyvitamin D [25(OH)D] in cord blood may show an inverse association with respiratory tract infections (RTI) during childhood. The aim of the present study was to examine the influence of 25(OH)D concentrations in cord blood on infant RTI in a Korean birth cohort.MethodsThe levels of 25(OH)D in cord blood obtained from 525 Korean newborns in the prospective COhort for Childhood Origin of Asthma and allergic diseases were examined. The primary outcome variable of interest was the prevalence of RTI at 6-month follow-up, as diagnosed by pediatricians and pediatric allergy and pulmonology specialists. RTI included acute nasopharyngitis, rhinosinusitis, otitis media, croup, tracheobronchitis, bronchiolitis, and pneumonia.ResultsThe median concentration of 25(OH)D in cord blood was 32.0 nmol/L (interquartile range, 21.4 to 53.2). One hundred and eighty neonates (34.3%) showed 25(OH)D concentrations less than 25.0 nmol/L, 292 (55.6%) showed 25(OH)D concentrations of 25.0-74.9 nmol/L, and 53 (10.1%) showed concentrations of ≥75.0 nmol/L. Adjusting for the season of birth, multivitamin intake during pregnancy, and exposure to passive smoking during pregnancy, 25(OH)D concentrations showed an inverse association with the risk of acquiring acute nasopharyngitis by 6 months of age (P for trend=0.0004).ConclusionThe results show that 89.9% of healthy newborns in Korea are born with vitamin D insufficiency or deficiency (55.6% and 34.3%, respectively). Cord blood vitamin D insufficiency or deficiency in healthy neonates is associated with an increased risk of acute nasopharyngitis by 6 months of age. More time spent outdoors and more intensified vitamin D supplementation for pregnant women may be needed to prevent the onset of acute nasopharyngitis in infants

Observation of associated near-side and away-side long-range correlations in √sNN=5.02 TeV proton-lead collisions with the ATLAS detector

Two-particle correlations in relative azimuthal angle (Δϕ) and pseudorapidity (Δη) are measured in √sNN=5.02  TeV p+Pb collisions using the ATLAS detector at the LHC. The measurements are performed using approximately 1  μb-1 of data as a function of transverse momentum (pT) and the transverse energy (ΣETPb) summed over 3.1<η<4.9 in the direction of the Pb beam. The correlation function, constructed from charged particles, exhibits a long-range (2<|Δη|<5) “near-side” (Δϕ∼0) correlation that grows rapidly with increasing ΣETPb. A long-range “away-side” (Δϕ∼π) correlation, obtained by subtracting the expected contributions from recoiling dijets and other sources estimated using events with small ΣETPb, is found to match the near-side correlation in magnitude, shape (in Δη and Δϕ) and ΣETPb dependence. The resultant Δϕ correlation is approximately symmetric about π/2, and is consistent with a dominant cos⁡2Δϕ modulation for all ΣETPb ranges and particle pT

Measurement of the inclusive and dijet cross-sections of b-jets in pp collisions at sqrt(s) = 7 TeV with the ATLAS detector

The inclusive and dijet production cross-sections have been measured for jets containing b-hadrons (b-jets) in proton-proton collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of sqrt(s) = 7 TeV, using the ATLAS detector at the LHC. The measurements use data corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 34 pb^-1. The b-jets are identified using either a lifetime-based method, where secondary decay vertices of b-hadrons in jets are reconstructed using information from the tracking detectors, or a muon-based method where the presence of a muon is used to identify semileptonic decays of b-hadrons inside jets. The inclusive b-jet cross-section is measured as a function of transverse momentum in the range 20 < pT < 400 GeV and rapidity in the range |y| < 2.1. The bbbar-dijet cross-section is measured as a function of the dijet invariant mass in the range 110 < m_jj < 760 GeV, the azimuthal angle difference between the two jets and the angular variable chi in two dijet mass regions. The results are compared with next-to-leading-order QCD predictions. Good agreement is observed between the measured cross-sections and the predictions obtained using POWHEG + Pythia. MC@NLO + Herwig shows good agreement with the measured bbbar-dijet cross-section. However, it does not reproduce the measured inclusive cross-section well, particularly for central b-jets with large transverse momenta.Comment: 10 pages plus author list (21 pages total), 8 figures, 1 table, final version published in European Physical Journal

Differences in Clinical Features According to Boryoung and Karp Genotypes of Orientia tsutsugamushi

Scrub typhus is an infectious disease caused by Orientia tsutsugamushi. The differences in virulence of O. tsutsugamushi prototypes in humans are still unknown. We investigated whether there are any differences in the clinical features of the Boryoung and Karp genotypes.Patients infected with O. tsutsugamushi, as Boryoung and Karp clusters, who had visited 6 different hospitals in southwestern Korea were prospectively compared for clinical features, complications, laboratory parameters, and treatment responses. Infected patients in the Boryoung cluster had significantly more generalized weakness, eschars, skin rashes, conjunctival injection, high albumin levels, and greater ESR and fibrinogen levels compared to the Karp cluster. The treatment response to current antibiotics was significantly slower in the Karp cluster as compared to the Boryoung cluster.The frequency of occurrence of eschars and rashes may depend on the genotype of O. tsutsugamushi

Search for the neutral Higgs bosons of the minimal supersymmetric standard model in pp collisions at root s=7 TeV with the ATLAS detector

A search for neutral Higgs bosons of the Minimal Supersymmetric Standard Model (MSSM) is reported. The analysis is based on a sample of proton-proton collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of 7TeV recorded with the ATLAS detector at the Large Hadron Collider. The data were recorded in 2011 and correspond to an integrated luminosity of 4.7 fb-1 to 4.8 fb-1. Higgs boson decays into oppositely-charged muon or τ lepton pairs are considered for final states requiring either the presence or absence of b-jets. No statistically significant excess over the expected background is observed and exclusion limits at the 95% confidence level are derived. The exclusion limits are for the production cross-section of a generic neutral Higgs boson, φ, as a function of the Higgs boson mass and for h/A/H production in the MSSM as a function of the parameters mA and tan β in the mhmax scenario for mA in the range of 90GeV to 500 GeV. Copyright CERN