Higher Dimensional Recombination of Intersecting D-branes

We study recombinations of D-brane systems intersecting at more than one angle using super Yang-Mills theory. We find the condensation of an off-diagonal tachyon mode relates to the recombination, as was clarified for branes at one angle in hep-th/0303204. For branes at two angles, after the tachyon mode between two D2-branes condensed, D2-brane charge is distributed in the bulk near the intersection point. We also find that, when two intersection angles are equal, the off-diagonal lowest mode is massless, and a new stable non-abelian configuration, which is supersymmetric up to a quadratic order in the fluctuations, is obtained by the deformation by this mode.Comment: 18 pages, 2 figures, JHEP style. v3:references added, minor corrections, English improve

How Does Pubertal Development Impact Caregiver-Adolescent Communication About Sex in Rural, African American Families? An Examination of Mediation Effects

This study examined the relationship between pubertal development and type of caregiver-adolescent communication about sex (CACS) among 441 African American caregivers participating in an intervention trial in rural North Carolina. We assessed CACS about general sexual health topics and positive aspects of sexuality. Caregivers’ attitudes and self-efficacy for CACS, and open communication style were examined as potential mediators. Caregivers engaged in low levels of communication about sex regardless of type. Among caregivers of males, pubertal development was associated with greater communication about general sexual health, which was mediated by self-efficacy for CACS. Among caregivers of females, pubertal development was associated with less communication about general and positive sexual health topics; however, there were no mediating factors. These findings highlight the predictors of CACS among young men and women after pubertal onset. Age appropriate, practical guidance for initiating CACS may be critical for ensuring caregiver talk about sex

A five-year hedonic price breakdown for desktop personal computer attributes in Brazil

The purpose of this article is to identify the attributes that discriminate the prices of personal desktop computers. We employ the hedonic price method in evaluating such characteristics. This approach allows market prices to be expressed as a function, a set of attributes present in the products and services offered. Prices and characteristics of up to 3,779 desktop personal computers offered in the IT pages of one of the main Brazilian newspapers were collected from January 2003 to December 2007. Several specifications for the hedonic (multivariate) linear regression were tested. In this particular study, the main attributes were found to be hard drive capacity, screen technology, main board brand, random memory size, microprocessor brand, video board memory, digital video and compact disk recording devices, screen size and microprocessor speed. These results highlight the novel contribution of this study: the manner and means in which hedonic price indexes may be estimated in Brazil

DNA methylation is required to maintain both DNA replication timing precision and 3D genome organization integrity

DNA replication timing and three-dimensional (3D) genome organization are associated with distinct epigenome patterns across large domains. However, whether alterations in the epigenome, in particular cancer-related DNA hypomethylation, affects higher-order levels of genome architecture is still unclear. Here, using Repli-Seq, single-cell Repli-Seq, and Hi-C, we show that genome-wide methylation loss is associated with both concordant loss of replication timing precision and deregulation of 3D genome organization. Notably, we find distinct disruption in 3D genome compartmentalization, striking gains in cell-to-cell replication timing heterogeneity and loss of allelic replication timing in cancer hypomethylation models, potentially through the gene deregulation of DNA replication and genome organization pathways. Finally, we identify ectopic H3K4me3-H3K9me3 domains from across large hypomethylated domains, where late replication is maintained, which we purport serves to protect against catastrophic genome reorganization and aberrant gene transcription. Our results highlight a potential role for the methylome in the maintenance of 3D genome regulation

Large-scale expression analysis reveals distinct microRNA profiles at different stages of human neurodevelopment

Background: MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are short non-coding RNAs predicted to regulate one third of protein coding genes via mRNA targeting. In conjunction with key transcription factors, such as the repressor REST (RE1 silencing transcription factor), miRNAs play crucial roles in neurogenesis, which requires a highly orchestrated program of gene expression to ensure the appropriate development and function of diverse neural cell types. Whilst previous studies have highlighted select groups of miRNAs during neural development, there remains a need for amenable models in which miRNA expression and function can be analyzed over the duration of neurogenesis. Principal Findings: We performed large-scale expression profiling of miRNAs in human NTera2/D1 (NT2) cells during retinoic acid (RA)-induced transition from progenitors to fully differentiated neural phenotypes. Our results revealed dynamic changes of miRNA patterns, resulting in distinct miRNA subsets th

Understanding the Relationship between Religiosity and Caregiver–Adolescent Communication About Sex within African-American Families

Caregiver–adolescent communication about sex plays a critical role in the sexual socialization of youth. Many caregivers, however, do not engage their youth in such conversations, potentially placing them at risk for negative sexual health outcomes. Lack of caregiver–adolescent communication about sex may be particularly harmful for rural African American youth, as they often report early sex initiation and are disproportionately impacted by STIs. Moreover, sexual communication may be particularly challenging for families with strong religious backgrounds, potentially affecting the occurrence and breadth of topics covered during communication. Study aims were to: determine whether there was a relationship between caregiver religiosity and type of topics covered during communication about sex (e.g., general sexual health vs. positive aspects of sexuality) among 435 caregivers of early adolescent, African American youth; and if so, identify factors that might explain how religiosity affects communication about sex. Results indicated that caregiver religiosity was positively associated with communication about general, but not positive aspects of sexuality for caregivers of males. Attitudes towards communication about sex and open communication style mediated the relationship. There was no association between religiosity and communication about sex for caregivers of females. The findings from this study could provide a base to better understand and support the sexual socialization process within religious, African American families

Three-month-olds, but not newborns, prefer own-race faces

Adults are sensitive to the physical differences that define ethnic groups. However, the age at which we become sensitive to ethnic differences is currently unclear. Our study aimed to clarify this by testing newborns and young infants for sensitivity to ethnicity using a visual preference (VP) paradigm. While newborn infants demonstrated no spontaneous preference for faces from either their own- or other-ethnic groups, 3-month-old infants demonstrated a significant preference for faces from their own-ethnic group. These results suggest that preferential selectivity based on ethnic differences is not present in the first days of life, but is learned within the first 3 months of life. The findings imply that adults’ perceptions of ethnic differences are learned and derived from differences in exposure to own- versus other-race faces during early developmen

The Banff 2019 Kidney Meeting Report (I): Updates on and clarification of criteria for T cell– and antibody-mediated rejection

The XV. Banff conference for allograft pathology was held in conjunction with the annual meeting of the American Society for Histocompatibility and Immunogenetics in Pittsburgh, PA (USA) and focused on refining recent updates to the classification, advances from the Banff working groups, and standardization of molecular diagnostics. This report on kidney transplant pathology details clarifications and refinements to the criteria for chronic active (CA) T cell–mediated rejection (TCMR), borderline, and antibody-mediated rejection (ABMR). The main focus of kidney sessions was on how to address biopsies meeting criteria for CA TCMR plus borderline or acute TCMR. Recent studies on the clinical impact of borderline infiltrates were also presented to clarify whether the threshold for interstitial inflammation in diagnosis of borderline should be i0 or i1. Sessions on ABMR focused on biopsies showing microvascular inflammation in the absence of C4d staining or detectable donor-specific antibodies; the potential value of molecular diagnostics in such cases and recommendations for use of the latter in the setting of solid organ transplantation are presented in the accompanying meeting report. Finally, several speakers discussed the capabilities of artificial intelligence and the potential for use of machine learning algorithms in diagnosis and personalized therapeutics in solid organ transplantation

Cystatin C and Cardiovascular Disease

Background Epidemiological studies show that high circulating cystatin C is associated with risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD), independent of creatinine-based renal function measurements. It is unclear whether this relationship is causal, arises from residual confounding, and/or is a consequence of reverse causation. Objectives The aim of this study was to use Mendelian randomization to investigate whether cystatin C is causally related to CVD in the general population. Methods We incorporated participant data from 16 prospective cohorts (n = 76,481) with 37,126 measures of cystatin C and added genetic data from 43 studies (n = 252,216) with 63,292 CVD events. We used the common variant rs911119 in CST3 as an instrumental variable to investigate the causal role of cystatin C in CVD, including coronary heart disease, ischemic stroke, and heart failure. Results Cystatin C concentrations were associated with CVD risk after adjusting for age, sex, and traditional risk factors (relative risk: 1.82 per doubling of cystatin C; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.56 to 2.13; p = 2.12 × 10−14). The minor allele of rs911119 was associated with decreased serum cystatin C (6.13% per allele; 95% CI: 5.75 to 6.50; p = 5.95 × 10−211), explaining 2.8% of the observed variation in cystatin C. Mendelian randomization analysis did not provide evidence for a causal role of cystatin C, with a causal relative risk for CVD of 1.00 per doubling cystatin C (95% CI: 0.82 to 1.22; p = 0.994), which was statistically different from the observational estimate (p = 1.6 × 10−5). A causal effect of cystatin C was not detected for any individual component of CVD. Conclusions Mendelian randomization analyses did not support a causal role of cystatin C in the etiology of CVD. As such, therapeutics targeted at lowering circulating cystatin C are unlikely to be effective in preventing CVD