Analysis of Genetic Polymorphisms as Risk Factors in Essential Hypertension and Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus among Malaysians

Genetic Polymorphisms are the variations found in the DNA sequences and they are integral to the development of genetic markers to identify individuals at risk. The genotypic distribution of various genetic polymorphisms involved in essential hypertension (EHT) and type 2 diabetes mellitus subjects (T2DM) has been established in many populations with conflicting results but in Malaysian subjects it has not been well characterized. The main objective of this study was to determine the association of various polymorphisms involved in the renin angiotensinaldosterone system (RAAS), insulin receptor, lipoprotein lipase, interleukin gene and G protein ß 3 subunit genes in EHT and T2DM of Malaysian subjects. This crosssectional study includes 70 EHT without T2DM, 60 T2DM, 65 EHT with T2DM and 75 unrelated healthy control subjects. Genomic DNA was extracted from the peripheral blood and the plasma was separated and analyzed for the biochemical analyses. The genotypes of the various genetic polymorphisms were determined using the polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP), mutagenically PCR and the hot-start PCR methods. All PCR products and the restricted fragments were resolved electrophoretically on agarose and polyacrylamide gels. Statistical analyses was done using SPPS version 14.0. The baseline characteristics such as age, body mass index, diastolic blood pressure, fasting plasma glucose, high density lipoprotein cholesterol and sodium differed significantly (p<0.05) in case subjects compared to control subjects but not in low density lipoprotein cholesterol, total cholesterol and potassium. The insertion/deletion (I/D) and G2350A polymorphism of the angiotensin converting enzyme (ACE) gene and the I/D polymorphism of the alpha adrenoceptor gene differed significantly in EHT and T2DM subjects, whereas the A6G variant of the angiotensinogen (AGT) gene differed significantly (p<0.05) in the EHT and EHT+T2DM subjects when compared to the control subjects but not in the T2DM subjects. However, the BglI and MboI polymorphisms of the renin gene, the A6244G polymorphism of the insulin receptor gene, the S477X polymorphism of the lipoprotein lipase gene, the C511T polymorphism of the interleukin gene and the C825T polymorphism of the G protein ß 3 subunit genes did not differ significantly (p>0.05) when compared to the control subjects. Therefore, the polymorphisms of ACE, AGT and alpha adrenoceptor genes involved in RAAS were significantly associated with EHT and T2DM in Malaysian subjects. The genotypes and alleles of those polymorphisms can be considered as possible genetic markers or predisposing risk factors for EHT and T2DM in Malaysian subjects

Is HE 0436-4717 Anemic? A deep look at a bare Seyfert 1 galaxy

A multi-epoch, multi-instrument analysis of the Seyfert 1 galaxy HE 0436-4717 is conducted using optical to X-ray data from XMM-Newton and Swift (including the BAT). Fitting of the UV-to-X-ray spectral energy distribution shows little evidence of extinction and the X-ray spectral analysis does not confirm previous reports of deep absorption edges from OVIII. HE 0436-4717 is a "bare" Seyfert with negligible line-of-sight absorption making it ideal to study the central X-ray emitting region. Three scenarios were considered to describe the X-ray data: partial covering absorption, blurred reflection, and soft Comptonization. All three interpretations describe the 0.5-10.0 keV spectra well. Extrapolating the models to 100 keV results in poorer fits for the the partial covering model. When also considering the rapid variability during one of the XMM-Newton observations, the blurred reflection model appears to describe all the observations in the most self-consistent manner. If adopted, the blurred reflection model requires a very low iron abundance in HE 0436-4717. We consider the possibilities that this is an artifact of the fitting process, but it appears possible that it is intrinsic to the object.Comment: 7 tables, 11 figures, 16 pages; accepted for publication in MNRAS 17 Feb. 201

A Low Complexity Near-Optimal MIMO Antenna Subset Selection Algorithm for Capacity Maximisation

Multiple input multiple output (MIMO) wireless systems employ a scheme called antenna subset selection for maximising the data rate or reliability for the prevailing channel conditions with the available or affordable number of radio frequency (RF) chains. In this paper, a low-complexity, and near-optimal performance fast algorithm is formulated and the detailed algorithm statements are stated with the exact complexity involved for capacity-maximising receive-only selection. The complexities of other receive-only selection comparable algorithms are calculated. Complexities have been stated in terms of both complex-complex flops and real-real flops. Significantly, all the algorithms are seen in the perspective of linear increase of capacity with the number of selected antennas up to one less than the total number of receive antennas. It is shown that our algorithm will be a good choice in terms of both performance and complexity for systems, which look for linear increase in capacity with the number of selected antennas up to one less than the total receive antennas. Our algorithm complexity is much less dependent on the number of transmit antennas and is not dependent on the number of selected antennas and it strikes a good tradeoff between performance and speed, which is very important for practical implementations

Three AGN Close To The Effective Eddington Limit

The Effective Eddington Limit for dusty gas surrounding AGN is lower than the canonical Eddington limit for hydrogen gas. Previous results from the Swift/BAT 9-month catalogue suggested that in the overwhelming majority of local AGN, the dusty absorbing gas is below this Effective Eddington limit, implying that radiation pressure is insufficient to blow away the absorbing clouds. We present an analysis of three objects from that sample which were found to be close to the Effective Eddington limit (NGC454, 2MASX J03565655-4041453 and XSS J05054-2348), using newly obtained XMM-Newton data. We use the X-ray data to better constrain the absorbing column density, and supplement them with XMM optical monitor (OM) data, infrared Spitzer and Herschel data where available to construct a broad-band spectral energy distribution to estimate refined bolometric luminosities and Eddington ratios for these three objects. The new XMM-Newton observations show all three objects moving away from the region expected for short-lived absorption in the N_H-\lambda_{Edd} plane into the `long-lived absorption' region. We find our conclusions robust to different methods for estimating the bolometric luminosity and Eddington ratio. Interestingly, 2MASX J03565655-4041453 and XSS J05054-2348 now exhibit complex X-ray spectra, at variance with previous analyses of their Swift/XRT data. We find evidence for absorption variability in NGC 454 and 2MASX J03565655-4041453, perhaps implying that although the radiation pressure from the central engine is insufficient to cause clearly detectable outflows, it may cause absorption variations over longer timescales. However, more robust black hole mass estimates would improve the accuracy of the Eddington ratio estimates for these objects.Comment: 13 pages, 10 figures, 3 tables, accepted for publication in MNRA

Separability of Hamilton-Jacobi and Klein-Gordon Equations in General Kerr-NUT-AdS Spacetimes

We demonstrate the separability of the Hamilton-Jacobi and scalar field equations in general higher dimensional Kerr-NUT-AdS spacetimes. No restriction on the parameters characterizing these metrics is imposed.Comment: 4 pages, no figure

Glimmers: Resolving the Privacy/Trust Quagmire

Many successful services rely on trustworthy contributions from users. To establish that trust, such services often require access to privacy-sensitive information from users, thus creating a conflict between privacy and trust. Although it is likely impractical to expect both absolute privacy and trustworthiness at the same time, we argue that the current state of things, where individual privacy is usually sacrificed at the altar of trustworthy services, can be improved with a pragmatic $Glimmer$ $of$ $Trust$, which allows services to validate user contributions in a trustworthy way without forfeiting user privacy. We describe how trustworthy hardware such as Intel's SGX can be used client-side -- in contrast to much recent work exploring SGX in cloud services -- to realize the Glimmer architecture, and demonstrate how this realization is able to resolve the tension between privacy and trust in a variety of cases

Constants of Geodesic Motion in Higher-Dimensional Black-Hole Spacetimes

In [arXiv:hep-th/0611083] we announced the complete integrability of geodesic motion in the general higher-dimensional rotating black-hole spacetimes. In the present paper we prove all the necessary steps leading to this conclusion. In particular, we demonstrate the independence of the constants of motion and the fact that they Poisson commute. The relation to a different set of constants of motion constructed in [arXiv:hep-th/0612029] is also briefly discussed.Comment: 8 pages, no figure

Synthesis and Coordination Compounds of A Bis(Imino)Acenaphthene (Bian)-Supported N-Heterocyclic Carbene

The bis(imino)acenaphthene-supported N-heterocyclic carbene IPr(BIAN) has been prepared by deprotonation of the precursor imidazolium chloride. Treatment of IPr(BIAN) imidazolium chloride with Ag(2)O afforded the silver complex [IPr(BIAN)]AgCl which can be converted into the corresponding gold complex [IPr(BIAN)]AuCl by reaction with (tht)AuCl (tht = tetrahydrothiophene). The iridium complex [IPr(BIAN)]Ir(COD)Cl was prepared by reaction of the imidazolium chloride with KO(t)Bu and [Ir(COD)Cl](2) and subsequently converted to the carbonyl complex [IPr(BIAN)]Ir(CO)(2)Cl by exposure to an atmosphere of CO. All new compounds were characterized by single-crystal X-ray diffraction, multinuclear NMR, MS and HRMS data.Robert A. Welch Foundation F-0003National Science Foundation 0741973Chemistr

Particle Motion and Scalar Field Propagation in Myers-Perry Black Hole Spacetimes in All Dimensions

We study separability of the Hamilton-Jacobi and massive Klein-Gordon equations in the general Myers-Perry black hole background in all dimensions. Complete separation of both equations is carried out in cases when there are two sets of equal black hole rotation parameters, which significantly enlarges the rotational symmetry group. We explicitly construct a nontrivial irreducible Killing tensor associated with the enlarged symmetry group which permits separation. We also derive first-order equations of motion for particles in these backgrounds and examine some of their properties.Comment: 16 pages, LaTeX2