Searches for the technicolor signatures via gg --> W^{\pm}\pi_t^{\mp} at the Large Hadron Collider

In this paper we calculate the production of a charged top pion in association with a W boson via gg fusion at the CERN Large Hadron Collider in the context of the topcolor assisted technicolor model. We find that, the total cross section of pp --> gg --> W^{\pm}\pi_t^{\mp}, is several dozen femtobarns with reasonable values of the parameters, and the total cross section of pp --> W^{\pm}\pi_t^{\mp} can reach a few hundred femtobarns when we consider the sum of the contributions of these two parton subprocesses gg --> W^{\pm}\pi_t^{\mp} and b\bar{b} --> W^{\pm}\pi_t^{\mp}.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figures. arXiv admin note: substantial text overlap with arXiv:1007.028

Duck (Anas platyrhynchos) linkage mapping by AFLP fingerprinting

Amplified fragment length polymorphism (AFLP) with multicolored fluorescent molecular markers was used to analyze duck (Anas platyrhynchos) genomic DNA and to construct the first AFLP genetic linkage map. These markers were developed and genotyped in 766 F2 individuals from six families from a cross between two different selected duck lines, brown Tsaiya and Pekin. Two hundred and ninety-six polymorphic bands (64% of all bands) were detected using 18 pairs of fluorescent TaqI/EcoRI primer combinations. Each primer set produced a range of 7 to 29 fragments in the reactions, and generated on average 16.4 polymorphic bands. The AFLP linkage map included 260 co-dominant markers distributed in 32 linkage groups. Twenty-one co-dominant markers were not linked with any other marker. Each linkage group contained three to 63 molecular markers and their size ranged between 19.0 cM and 171.9 cM. This AFLP linkage map provides important information for establishing a duck chromosome map, for mapping quantitative trait loci (QTL mapping) and for breeding applications

Interplay between SIN3A and STAT3 Mediates Chromatin Conformational Changes and GFAP Expression during Cellular Differentiation

BACKGROUND: Neurons and astrocytes are generated from common neural precursors, yet neurogenesis precedes astrocyte formation during embryogenesis. The mechanisms of neural development underlying suppression and de-suppression of differentiation-related genes for cell fate specifications are not well understood. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: By using an in vitro system in which NTera-2 cells were induced to differentiate into an astrocyte-like lineage, we revealed a novel role for Sin3A in maintaining the suppression of GFAP in NTera-2 cells. Sin3A coupled with MeCP2 bound to the GFAP promoter and their occupancies were correlated with repression of GFAP transcription. The repression by Sin3A and MeCP2 may be an essential mechanism underlying the inhibition of cell differentiation. Upon commitment toward an astrocyte-like lineage, Sin3A- MeCP2 departed from the promoter and activated STAT3 simultaneously bound to the promoter and exon 1 of GFAP; meanwhile, olig2 was exported from nuclei to the cytoplasm. This suggested that a three-dimensional or higher-order structure was provoked by STAT3 binding between the promoter and proximal coding regions. STAT3 then recruited CBP/p300 to exon 1 and targeted the promoter for histone H3K9 and H3K14 acetylation. The CBP/p300-mediated histone modification further facilitates chromatin remodeling, thereby enhancing H3K4 trimethylation and recruitment of RNA polymerase II to activate GFAP gene transcription. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: These results provide evidence that exchange of repressor and activator complexes and epigenetic modifications are critical strategies for cellular differentiation and lineage-specific gene expression

AIDA directly connects sympathetic innervation to adaptive thermogenesis by UCP1

AIDA最早是由林圣彩教授团队首先鉴定和命名的。2007年林圣彩教授团队与孟安明院士团队合作发现AIDA在斑马鱼体轴发育中的功能(Rui, 2007)。2018年，林圣彩教授团队首次发现了AIDA在哺乳动物中的功能，即AIDA介导的内质网降解途径通过降解脂肪合成途径中的关键酶，而限制膳食脂肪在肠道的吸收这一内在抵御肥胖(Luo, 2018)。而本次成果揭示了AIDA在棕色脂肪组织中特定的功能。这些工作将AIDA引入了脂质应激代谢的重要环节，包括脂质吸收和依赖于脂质的产热过程。该论文的共同第一作者为生命科学学院博士生史猛和硕士生黄晓羽，林圣彩教授和林舒勇教授则为共同通讯作者。【Abstract】The sympathetic nervous system–catecholamine–uncoupling protein 1 (UCP1) axis plays an essential role in non-shivering adaptive thermogenesis. However, whether there exists a direct effector that physically connects catecholamine signalling to UCP1 in response to acute cold is unknown. Here we report that outer mitochondrial membrane-located AIDA is phosphorylated at S161 by the catecholamine-activated protein kinase A (PKA). Phosphorylated AIDA translocates to the intermembrane space, where it binds to and activates the uncoupling activity of UCP1 by promoting cysteine oxidation of UCP1.Adipocyte-specific depletion of AIDA abrogates UCP1-dependent thermogenesis, resulting in hypothermia during acute cold exposure. Re-expression of S161A-AIDA, unlike wild-type AIDA, fails to restore the acute cold response in Aida-knockout mice.The PKA–AIDA–UCP1 axis is highly conserved in mammals, including hibernators. Denervation of the sympathetic postganglionic fibres abolishes cold-induced AIDA-dependent thermogenesis. These findings uncover a direct mechanistic link between sympathetic input and UCP1-mediated adaptive thermogenesis.We thank Y. Li, E. Gnaiger, T. Kuwaki, J. R. B. Lighton, E. T. Chouchani and D. Jiang for technical instruction; X. Li and X.-D. Jiang (Core Facility of Biomedical, Xiamen University) for raising the p-S161-AIDA antibody; the Xiamen University Laboratory Animal Center for the mouse in vitro fertilization service and all the other members of S.C.L. laboratory for their technical assistance. This work was supported by grants from the National Key Research and Development Project of China (grant no. 2016YFA0502001) and the National Natural Science Foundation of China (grant nos 31822027, 31871168, 31690101, 91854208 and 82088102), the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities (grant nos 20720190084 and 20720200069), Project ‘111’ sponsored by the State Bureau of Foreign Experts and Ministry of Education of China (grant no. BP2018017), the Youth Innovation Fund of Xiamen (grant no. 3502Z20206028), the Natural Science Foundation of Fujian Province of China (grant no. 2017J01364) and XMU Training Program of Innovation and Entrepreneurship for Undergraduates (grant no. 2019×0666). 该工作得到了厦门大学实验动物中心和生物医学学部仪器平台的重要协助和国家重点研究和发展项目，国家自然科学基金，厦门大学校长基金等的支持

Women with endometriosis have higher comorbidities: Analysis of domestic data in Taiwan

AbstractEndometriosis, defined by the presence of viable extrauterine endometrial glands and stroma, can grow or bleed cyclically, and possesses characteristics including a destructive, invasive, and metastatic nature. Since endometriosis may result in pelvic inflammation, adhesion, chronic pain, and infertility, and can progress to biologically malignant tumors, it is a long-term major health issue in women of reproductive age. In this review, we analyze the Taiwan domestic research addressing associations between endometriosis and other diseases. Concerning malignant tumors, we identified four studies on the links between endometriosis and ovarian cancer, one on breast cancer, two on endometrial cancer, one on colorectal cancer, and one on other malignancies, as well as one on associations between endometriosis and irritable bowel syndrome, one on links with migraine headache, three on links with pelvic inflammatory diseases, four on links with infertility, four on links with obesity, four on links with chronic liver disease, four on links with rheumatoid arthritis, four on links with chronic renal disease, five on links with diabetes mellitus, and five on links with cardiovascular diseases (hypertension, hyperlipidemia, etc.). The data available to date support that women with endometriosis might be at risk of some chronic illnesses and certain malignancies, although we consider the evidence for some comorbidities to be of low quality, for example, the association between colon cancer and adenomyosis/endometriosis. We still believe that the risk of comorbidity might be higher in women with endometriosis than that we supposed before. More research is needed to determine whether women with endometriosis are really at risk of these comorbidities

Challenges and recent advancements of functionalization of two-dimensional nanostructured molybdenum trioxide and dichalcogenides

Atomically-thin two-dimensional (2D) semiconductors are the thinnest functional semiconducting materials available today. Among them, both molybdenum trioxide and chalcogenides (MT&Ds) represent key components within the family of the different 2D semiconductors for various electronic, optoelectronic and electrochemical applications due to their unique electronic, optical, mechanical and electrochemical properties. However, despite great progress in research dedicated to the development and fabrication of 2D MT&Ds observed within the last decade, there are significant challenges affected their charge transport behavior, fabrication on a large scale as well as high dependence of the carrier mobility on thickness. In this article, we review the recent progress on the carrier mobility engineering of 2D MT&Ds and elaborate devised strategies dedicated to the optimization of MT&Ds properties. Specifically, the latest physical and chemical methods towards the surface functionalization and optimization of the major factors influencing the extrinsic transport at the electrode-2D semiconductor interface are discusse

New genetic loci link adipose and insulin biology to body fat distribution.

Body fat distribution is a heritable trait and a well-established predictor of adverse metabolic outcomes, independent of overall adiposity. To increase our understanding of the genetic basis of body fat distribution and its molecular links to cardiometabolic traits, here we conduct genome-wide association meta-analyses of traits related to waist and hip circumferences in up to 224,459 individuals. We identify 49 loci (33 new) associated with waist-to-hip ratio adjusted for body mass index (BMI), and an additional 19 loci newly associated with related waist and hip circumference measures (P < 5 × 10(-8)). In total, 20 of the 49 waist-to-hip ratio adjusted for BMI loci show significant sexual dimorphism, 19 of which display a stronger effect in women. The identified loci were enriched for genes expressed in adipose tissue and for putative regulatory elements in adipocytes. Pathway analyses implicated adipogenesis, angiogenesis, transcriptional regulation and insulin resistance as processes affecting fat distribution, providing insight into potential pathophysiological mechanisms

Differential cross section measurements for the production of a W boson in association with jets in proton–proton collisions at √s = 7 TeV

Measurements are reported of differential cross sections for the production of a W boson, which decays into a muon and a neutrino, in association with jets, as a function of several variables, including the transverse momenta (pT) and pseudorapidities of the four leading jets, the scalar sum of jet transverse momenta (HT), and the difference in azimuthal angle between the directions of each jet and the muon. The data sample of pp collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of 7 TeV was collected with the CMS detector at the LHC and corresponds to an integrated luminosity of 5.0 fb[superscript −1]. The measured cross sections are compared to predictions from Monte Carlo generators, MadGraph + pythia and sherpa, and to next-to-leading-order calculations from BlackHat + sherpa. The differential cross sections are found to be in agreement with the predictions, apart from the pT distributions of the leading jets at high pT values, the distributions of the HT at high-HT and low jet multiplicity, and the distribution of the difference in azimuthal angle between the leading jet and the muon at low values.United States. Dept. of EnergyNational Science Foundation (U.S.)Alfred P. Sloan Foundatio