miR-9 Acts as an OncomiR in Prostate Cancer through Multiple Pathways That Drive Tumour Progression and Metastasis

Identification of dysregulated microRNAs (miRNAs) in prostate cancer is critical not only for diagnosis, but also differentiation between the aggressive and indolent forms of the disease. miR-9 was identified as an oncomiR through both miRNA panel RT-qPCR as well as high-throughput sequencing analysis of the human P69 prostate cell line as compared to its highly tumorigenic and metastatic subline M12, and found to be consistently upregulated in other prostate cell lines including DU-145 and PC3. While miR-9 has been characterized as dysregulated either as an oncomiR or tumour suppressor in a variety of other cancers including breast, ovarian, and nasopharyngeal carcinomas, it has not been previously evaluated and proven as an oncomiR in prostate cancer. miR-9 was confirmed an oncomiR when found to be overexpressed in tumour tissue as compared to adjacent benign glandular epithelium through laser-capture microdissection of radical prostatectomy biopsies. Inhibition of miR-9 resulted in reduced migratory and invasive potential of the M12 cell line, and reduced tumour growth and metastases in male athymic nude mice. Analysis showed that miR-9 targets e-cadherin and suppressor of cytokine signalling 5 (SOCS5), but not NF-ĸB mRNA. Expression of these proteins was shown to be affected by modulation in expression of miR-9

An XMM-Newton and Chandra Study of the Starburst Galaxy IC 10

We present an X-ray study of our nearest starburst galaxy IC 10, based on XMM-Newton and Chandra observations. A list of 73 XMM-Newton and 28 Chandra detections of point-like X-ray sources in the field is provided; a substantial fraction of them are likely stellar objects in the Milky Way due to the low Galactic latitude location of IC 10. The brightest source in the IC 10 field, X-1, shows a large variation by a factor of up to $\sim 6$ on time scales during the XMM-Newton observation. The X-ray spectra of the source indicate the presence of a multi-color blackbody accretion disk with an inner disk temperature T_{in} \approx 1.1 keV. These results are consistent with the interpretation of the source as a stellar mass black hole, probably accreting from a Wolf-Rayet star companion. We infer the mass of this black hole to be about 4 Msun if it is not spinning, or a factor of up to about 6 higher if there is significant spinning. We also detect an apparent diffuse soft X-ray emission component of IC 10. An effective method is devised to remove the X-ray CCD-readout streaks of X-1 that strongly affect the study of the diffuse component in the XMM-Newton and Chandra observations. We find that the diffuse X-ray morphology is oriented along the optical body of the galaxy and is chiefly associated with starburst regions. The diffuse component can be characterized by an optically thin thermal plasma with a mean temperature of $\sim 4 \times 10^6$ K and a 0.5-2 keV luminosity of $\sim 8 \times 10^{37} {\rm erg s^{-1}}$, representing only a small fraction of the expected mechanical energy inputs from massive stars in the galaxy. There is evidence that the hot gas is driving outflows from the starburst regions; therefore, the bulk of the energy inputs may be released in a galactic wind.Comment: 30 pages, accepted for publication in MNRA

Adiabatic Phase Diagram of an Ultracold Atomic Fermi Gas with a Feshbach Resonance

We determine the adiabatic phase diagram of a resonantly-coupled system of Fermi atoms and Bose molecules confined in the harmonic trap by using the local density approximation. The adiabatic phase diagram shows the fermionic condensate fraction composed of condensed molecules and Cooper pair atoms. The key idea of our work is conservation of entropy through the adiabatic process, extending the study of Williams et al. [Williams et al., New J. Phys. 6, 123 (2004)] for an ideal gas mixture to include the resonant interaction in a mean-field theory. We also calculate the molecular conversion efficiency as a function of initial temperature. Our work helps to understand recent experiments on the BCS-BEC crossover, in terms of the initial temperature measured before a sweep of the magnetic field.Comment: 13 pages, 8 figures. In press, "Journal of the Physical Society of Japan", Vol.76, No.

Superconductivity at 2.3 K in the misfit compound (PbSe)1.16(TiSe2)2

The structural misfit compound (PbSe)1.16(TiSe2)2 is reported. It is a superconductor with a Tc of 2.3 K. (PbSe)1.16(TiSe2)2 derives from a parent compound, TiSe2, which shows a charge density wave transition and no superconductivity. The crystal structure, characterized by high resolution electron microscopy and powder x-ray diffraction, consists of two layers of 1T-TiSe2 alternating with a double layer of (100) PbSe. Transport measurements suggest that the superconductivity is induced by charge transfer from the PbSe layers to the TiSe2 layers.Comment: 17 pages, 4 figures. To be published in Physical Review

Atom-molecule equilibration in a degenerate Fermi gas with resonant interactions

We present a nonequilibrium kinetic theory describing atom-molecule population dynamics in a two-component Fermi gas with a Feshbach resonance. Key collision integrals emerge that govern the relaxation of the atom-molecule mixture to chemical and thermal equilibrium. Our focus is on the pseudogap regime where molecules form above the superfluid transition temperature. In this regime, we formulate a simple model for the atom-molecule population dynamics. The model predicts the saturation of molecule formation that has been observed in recent experiments, and indicates that a dramatic enhancement of the atom-molecule conversion efficiency occurs at low temperatures.Comment: Updated manuscript on July 5, 2004. Four pages with three embedded figure

Periodic instanton method and macroscopic quantum tunneling between two weakly-linked Bose-Einstein condensates

A new method is used to investigate the tunneling between two weakly-linked Bose-Einstein condensates confined in double-well potential traps. The nonlinear interaction between the atoms in each well contributes to a finite chemical potential, which, with consideration of periodic instantons, leads to a remarkably high tunneling frequency. This result can be used to interpret the newly found Macroscopic Quantum Self Trapping (MQST) effect. Also a new kind of first-order crossover between different regions is predicted.Comment: 4 pages, 2 eps figures, final version to appear in Phys. Rev.

How hard is a colloidal 'hard-sphere' interaction?

Poly-12-hydroxystearic acid (PHSA) is widely used as a coating on colloidal spheres to provide a "hard-sphere-type" interaction. These hard spheres have been widely used in fundamental studies of nucleation, crystallization, and glass formation. Most authors describe the interaction as "nearly" hard sphere. In this paper we directly measure this interaction, using layers of PHSA adsorbed onto mica sheets in a surfaces force apparatus. We find that the layers, in appropriate solvents, have no long-range interaction. When the solvent is decahydronaphthalene (decalin), the repulsion rises from zero to the maximum measurable over a distance range of 15-20 nm. The data is converted to equivalent forces between spheres of different diameters, and modeled using a hard core potential. Using zeroth-order perturbation theory and computer simulation, we demonstrate that the equation of state does not deviate from that of a perfect hard-sphere system under any relevant experimental conditions

Spin Dynamics near the Superconductor-to-Insulator Transition in Impurity-Doped YBa2Cu4O8

We studied low-frequency spin dynamics near the impurity-induced superconductor-to-insulator transition for underdoped high-Tc superconductor YBa2(Cu1-xMx)4O8 (M=Ni, Zn) using the Cu nuclear quadrupole resonance (NQR) spin-echo technique. We observed remarkable suppression of the normal-state pseudo spin-gap and a loss of Cu NQR spectrum intensity at low temperatures around the critical impurity concentration.Comment: 6 pages, 4 figures. To be published in J. Phys. Soc. Jpn. Vol.70, No.7 (2001

Global synchronization for delayed complex networks with randomly occurring nonlinearities and multiple stochastic disturbances

This is the post print version of the article. The official published version can be obained from the link - Copyright 2009 IOP Publishing LtdThis paper is concerned with the synchronization problem for a new class of continuous time delayed complex networks with stochastic nonlinearities (randomly occurring nonlinearities), interval time-varying delays, unbounded distributed delays as well as multiple stochastic disturbances. The stochastic nonlinearities and multiple stochastic disturbances are investigated here in order to reflect more realistic dynamical behaviors of the complex networks that are affected by the noisy environment. By utilizing a new matrix functional with the idea of partitioning the lower bound h1 of the time-varying delay, we employ the stochastic analysis techniques and the properties of the Kronecker product to establish delay-dependent synchronization criteria that ensure the globally asymptotically mean-square synchronization of the addressed stochastic delayed complex networks. The sufficient conditions obtained are in the form of linear matrix inequalities (LMIs) whose solutions can be readily solved by using the standard numerical software. A numerical example is exploited to show the applicability of the proposed results.This work was supported in part by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) of the UK under Grant GR/S27658/01, an International Joint Project sponsored by the Royal Society of the UK, the National 973 Program of China under Grant 2009CB320600, the National Natural Science Foundation of China under Grant 60804028, the Specialized Research Fund for the Doctoral Program of Higher Education for New Teachers under Grant 200802861044, the Teaching and Research Fund for Excellent Young Teachers at Southeast University of China, and the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation of Germany