Statistical Isotropy of CMB Polarization Maps

We formulate statistical isotropy of CMB anisotropy maps in its most general form. We also present a fast and orientation independent statistical method to determine deviations from statistical isotropy in CMB polarization maps. Importance of having statistical tests of departures from SI for CMB polarization maps lies not only in interesting theoretical motivations but also in testing cleaned CMB polarization maps for observational artifacts such as residuals from polarized foreground emission. We propose a generalization of the Bipolar Power Spectrum (BiPS) to polarization maps. Application to the observed CMB polarization maps will be soon possible after the release of WMAP three year data. As a demonstration we show that for E-polarization this test can detect breakdown of statistical isotropy due to polarized synchrotron foreground.Comment: 6 pages, 2 figures, Conclusions & results unchanged; Extension to cutsky included (discussion & references added); Matches version accepted to Phys. Rev. D Rapid Com

Superradiant scattering from a hydrodynamic vortex

We show that sound waves scattered from a hydrodynamic vortex may be amplified. Such superradiant scattering follows from the physical analogy between spinning black holes and hydrodynamic vortices. However a sonic horizon analogous to the black hole event horizon does not exist unless the vortex possesses a central drain, which is challenging to produce experimentally. In the astrophysical domain, superradiance can occur even in the absence of an event horizon: we show that in the hydrodynamic analogue, a drain is not required and a vortex scatters sound superradiantly. Possible experimental realization in dilute gas Bose-Einstein condensates is discussed.Comment: 10 pages, 1 figur

Polimorfizam CYP11B1 i PPARGC1A gena i njegov utjecaj na kontrolu reproduktivnih obilježja te procjenu uzgojne vrijednosti za proizvodnju mlijeka u prvoj laktaciji Bos indicus (deoni) goveda

In the present study, in Deoni, the dual purpose cattle breed of Southern India, maintained in a National Dairy Research Institute herd, Southern Regional Station, Bengaluru, molecular characterization of the putative exon 1 of CYP11B1 and putative intron 9 and 3’UTR of PPARGC1A genes was carried out in 146 animals using the PCR-RFLP technique. Three restriction enzymes, namely PstI, HaeIII and NheI, were used for digestion of the amplicons of the genes, respectively. In the putative exon 1 of the CYP11B1 gene, two genotypes, VV and VA, were detected with frequencies of 0.23 and 0.77, respectively. The frequencies of allele V and A in the population were found to be 0.62 and 0.38, respectively. The allelic frequencies of C and T types were observed as 0.63 and 0.37, with frequencies of CC, TC and TT genotypes as 0.38, 0.51 and 0.11 in the putative intron 9 of the PPARGC1A gene, respectively. Three genotypes, namely AA, AC and CC were detected in 3’UTR of the PPARGC1A gene, with respective frequencies of 0.75, 0.21 and 0.04. The allelic frequencies of A and C types were 0.86 and 0.14, respectively. The locus (c.1892+19T>C) in the putative intron 9 of the PPARGC1A gene was found to be significant (PC) genes. No significant (PC) u pretpostavljenom intronu 9 PPARGC1A gena utvrđen je statistički znakovit (PC). U istraženih goveda nije opažena znakovita (P<0,10) povezanost između lokusa gena i uzgojne vrijednosti za proizvodnju mlijeka u prvoj laktaciji

A Novel Enediynyl Peptide Inhibitor of Furin That Blocks Processing of proPDGF-A, B and proVEGF-C

BACKGROUND: Furin represents a crucial member of secretory mammalian subtilase, the Proprotein Convertase (PC) or Proprotein Convertase Subtilisin/Kexin (PCSK) superfamily. It has been linked to cancer, tumorgenesis, viral and bacterial pathogenesis. As a result it is considered a major target for intervention of these diseases. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: Herein, we report, for the first time, the synthesis and biological evaluation of a newly designed potent furin inhibitor that contains a highly reactive beta-turn inducing and radical generating "enediynyl amino acid" (Eda) moiety. "Eda" was inserted between P1 and P1' residues of hfurin(98-112) peptide, derived from the primary cleavage site of furin's own prodomain. The resulting hexadecapeptide derivative inhibited furin in vitro with IC(50) approximately 40 nM when measured against the fluorogenic substrate Boc-RVRR-MCA. It also inhibited furin-mediated cleavage of a fluorogenic peptide derived from hSARS-CoV spike protein with IC(50) approximately 193 nM. Additionally it also blocked furin-processing of growth factors proPDGF-A, B and VEGF-C that are linked to tumor genesis and cancer. Circular dichroism study showed that this inhibitor displayed a predominantly beta-turn structure while western blots confirmed its ability to protect furin protein from self degradation. CONCLUSION/SIGNIFICANCE: These findings imply its potential as a therapeutic agent for intervention of cancer and other furin-associated diseases

Interrelationship of Major Topological Indices Evidenced by Clustering

This study examines the mutual relatedness of 318 major topological indices (TIs) for three sets of molecules: (i) a set of 139 hydrocarbons, (ii) a diverse set of 1029 compounds and (iii) a diverse set of 2887 compounds. The TIs included in this study are those that have been frequently used in the characterization of structure and QSAR/ QSPR studies. After variable reduction based on the elimination of TIs for which all values were zero and those that were completely correlated with another TI, a variable clustering technique was used to cluster the TIs which resulted in 16, 37 and 56 clusters, respectively, for the three data sets mentioned above. Analysis of the correspondence among the clusters derived from the three groups of chemicals has been carried out in an effort to understand the dimensionality of the structure spaces derived for the three different sets of chemicals and the structural aspects characterized by the various TIs