Effect of three common SNPs in 5′-flanking region of LEP and ADIPOQ genes on their expression in Polish obese children and adolescents

Genes encoding adipokines are considered as candidates for human obesity. In this study we analyzed the expression of leptin (LEP) and adiponectin (ADIPOQ) genes in relation to common 5′-flanking or 5′UTR variants: -2548G>A (LEP), 19A>G (LEP) and -11377C>G (ADIPOQ) in Polish obese children and adolescents. Relative transcription levels in the subcutaneous adipose tissue (real time RT–PCR) and serum protein concentrations (RIA) were measured in 48 obese subjects with known genotypes at three polymorphic sites and in five non-obese controls. None of the studied polymorphisms altered significantly the expression. Significantly elevated relative transcription levels of the LEP gene (P < 0.05) and serum leptin concentrations (P < 0.01) were recorded in obese patients, when compared with the non-obese controls, but such differences were not found for the ADIPOQ gene. Interestingly, the leptin to adiponectin protein concentration ratio (L/A) was approximately sevenfold higher in obese children and adolescents when compared with the non-obese controls (P < 0.001). Taking into consideration the observed relationship between the genotypes and the gene expression level we suggest that these SNPs are not conclusive markers for predisposition to obesity in Polish children and adolescents. On the other hand, we confirmed that the leptin to adiponectin gene expression ratio (L/A) is an informative index characterizing obesity

River networks of southern Africa: Scaling laws governing their geometry and deviations from scaling

Africa is tectonically and hypsometrically different to all other continents and therefore provides a unique natural laboratory for the study of river network geometry. Southern Africa is one of the more unusual geomorphological regions of this continent, hence our interest in the geometry of the rivers draining this region. The 14 river basins analyzed here come from the larger networks of the Orange and Limpopo rivers, as well as from the southernmost section of the continent where rivers meander through an exhumed belt of folded Paleozoic mountains. Basic scaling laws, such as Horton’s laws and Hack’s law, hold for the rivers studied here, but the parameters governing these relationships vary between networks. A strong inverse correlation between Horton’s ratio of stream numbers and mean source stream slope is observed. We believe this is the first time such a relation has been reported. Horton’s ratio of basin areas is proportional to that of stream numbers but always greater than it; this contradicts existing models that equate the two parameters. An expression for the ratio of stream lengths in terms of the ratio of stream numbers is derived theoretically and verified for the available data. The parameter governing Hack’s law, h, varies not only between networks but also with scale inside each network. Existing models provide up to four scaling regimes. Given the spatial resolution of this study, the two regimes at the middle scales are visible here. These are termed the short-range and randomness regimes, with a crossover occurring at a drainage area of approximately 800 km2 . The values for h in the smaller short-range regime have an inverse correlation with the roughness of the topography. Observed values for h imply basins appear more elongated with increasing area; this would be more pronounced in rivers draining a smooth topography. In the randomness regime the values of h are lower, mostly between 0.5 and 0.6, with a weak positive correlation to topography roughness. This range of h corresponds to self-similar basins, but a more detailed analysis of individual stream fractality is necessary before such a conclusion can be made

On-site early-warning system for bishkek (Kyrgyzstan)

<p>In this work, the development of an on-site early warning system for Bishkek (Kyrgyzstan) is outlined. Several low cost sensors equipped with MEMS accelerometers are installed in eight buildings distributed within the urban area. The different sensing units communicate each other via wireless links and the seismic data are streamed in real-time to the data center using internet. Since each single sensing unit has computing capabilities, software for data processing can be installed to perform decentralized actions. In particular, each sensing unit can perform event detection task and run software for on-site early warning. If a description for the vulnerability of the building is uploaded in the sensing unit, this piece of information can be exploited to introduce the expected probability of damage in the early-warning protocol customized for a specific structure.</p

Perpendicular magnetic anisotropy and intralayer interactions in a single layer of CoPt nanoparticles

The multilayer films Al2O3/tCo Co/tPt Pt]N, produced by sequential deposition of Co and Pt on alumina consist in layers of CoPt alloyed nanoparticles. They show perpendicular magnetic anisotropy (PMA) below a freezing temperature Tf, an asperomagnetic-like phase below that temperature, and hard ferromagnetic ordering below a transition temperature T1 < Tf. A single layer granular film (N = 1) with deposition thicknesses tCo=0.7 nm, tPt=1.5 nm and particle diameter of 3 nm is presently studied. SQUID magnetometry shows that a single layer presents the three phases as well. Para-, aspero-and ferromagnetic phases are observed upon lowering the temperature, with transition temperatures Tf ˜ 375 K and T1 ˜ 200 K, respectively. In addition, the PMA persists, proving that there is no interlayer coupling in the multilayer system. SQUID results also reveal a core-shell structure in the CoPt nanoparticles

Electronic structure of the (111) and (-1-1-1) surfaces of cubic BN: A local-density-functional ab initio study

We present ab initio local-density-functional electronic structure calculations for the (111) and (-1-1-1) surfaces of cubic BN. The energetically stable reconstructions, namely the N adatom, N3 triangle models on the (111), the (2x1), boron and nitrogen triangle patterns on the (-1-1-1) surface are investigated. Band structure and properties of the surface states are discussed in detail.Comment: 8 pages, 12 figure

S-wave velocity images of the Dead Sea Basin provided by ambient seismic noise

Based on passive seismic interferometry applied to ambient seismic noise recordings between station pairs belonging to a small-scale array, we have obtained shear wave velocity images of the uppermost materials that make up the Dead Sea Basin. We extracted empirical Green’s functions from cross-correlations of long-term recordings of continuous data, and measured inter-station Rayleigh wave group velocities from the daily correlation functions for positive and negative correlation time lags in the 0.1–0.5 Hz bandwidth. A tomographic inversion of the travel times estimated for each frequency is performed, allowing the laterally varying 3-D surface wave velocity structure below the array to be retrieved. Subsequently, the velocity-frequency curves are inverted to obtain S-wave velocity images of the study area as horizontal depth sections and longitude- and latitude-depth sections. The results, which are consistent with other previous ones, provide clear images of the local seismic velocity structure of the basin. Low shear velocities are dominant at shallow depths above 3.5 km, but even so a spit of land with a depth that does not exceed 4 km is identified as a salt diapir separating the low velocities associated with sedimentary infill on both sides of the Lisan Peninsula. The lack of low speeds at the sampling depth of 11.5 km implies that there are no sediments and therefore that the basement is near 10–11 km depth, but gradually decreasing from south to north. The results also highlight the bowl-shaped basin with poorly consolidated sedimentary materials accumulated in the central part of the basin. The structure of the western margin of the basin evidences a certain asymmetry both whether it is compared to the eastern margin and it is observed in north–south direction. Infill materials down to ∼8 km depth are observed in the hollow of the basin, unlike what happens in the north and south where they are spread beyond the western Dead Sea shore