Analysis of the scalar, axialvector, vector, tensor doubly charmed tetraquark states with QCD sum rules

In this article, we construct the axialvector-diquark-axialvector-antidiquark type currents to interpolate the scalar, axialvector, vector, tensor doubly charmed tetraquark states, and study them with QCD sum rules systematically by carrying out the operator product expansion up to the vacuum condensates of dimension 10 in a consistent way, the predicted masses can be confronted to the experimental data in the future. We can search for those doubly charmed tetraquark states in the Okubo-Zweig-Iizuka super-allowed strong decays to the charmed meson pairs.Comment: 23 pages, 29 figures. arXiv admin note: substantial text overlap with arXiv:1708.0454

Revisit assignments of the new excited Ωc\Omega_c states with QCD sum rules

In this article, we distinguish the contributions of the positive parity and negative parity $\Omega_c$ states, study the masses and pole residues of the 1S, 1P, 2S and 2P $\Omega_c$ states with the spin $J=\frac{1}{2}$ and $\frac{3}{2}$ using the QCD sum rules in a consistent way, and revisit the assignments of the new narrow excited $\Omega_c^0$ states. The predictions support assigning the $\Omega_c(3000)$ to be the 1P $\Omega_c$ state with $J^P={\frac{1}{2}}^-$, assigning the $\Omega_c(3090)$ to be the 1P $\Omega_c$ state with $J^P={\frac{3}{2}}^-$ or the 2S $\Omega_c$ state with $J^P={\frac{1}{2}}^+$, and assigning $\Omega_c(3119)$ to be the 2S $\Omega_c$ state with $J^P={\frac{3}{2}}^+$.Comment: 19 pages, 22 figures. arXiv admin note: text overlap with arXiv:1705.0774

Genome-Wide Identification of Schistosoma japonicum MicroRNAs Using a Deep-Sequencing Approach

BACKGROUND: Human schistosomiasis is one of the most prevalent and serious parasitic diseases worldwide. Schistosoma japonicum is one of important pathogens of this disease. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are a large group of non-coding RNAs that play important roles in regulating gene expression and protein translation in animals. Genome-wide identification of miRNAs in a given organism is a critical step to facilitating our understanding of genome organization, genome biology, evolution, and posttranscriptional regulation. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: We sequenced two small RNA libraries prepared from different stages of the life cycle of S. japonicum, immature schistosomula and mature pairing adults, through a deep DNA sequencing approach, which yielded approximately 12 million high-quality short sequence reads containing a total of approximately 2 million non-redundant tags. Based on a bioinformatics pipeline, we identified 176 new S. japonicum miRNAs, of which some exhibited a differential pattern of expression between the two stages. Although 21 S. japonicum miRNAs are orthologs of known miRNAs within the metazoans, some nucleotides at many positions of Schistosoma miRNAs, such as miR-8, let-7, miR-10, miR-31, miR-92, miR-124, and miR-125, are indeed significantly distinct from other bilaterian orthologs. In addition, both miR-71 and some miR-2 family members in tandem are found to be clustered in a reversal direction model on two genomic loci, and two pairs of novel S. japonicum miRNAs were derived from sense and antisense DNA strands at the same genomic loci. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: The collection of S. japonicum miRNAs could be used as a new platform to study the genomic structure, gene regulation and networks, evolutionary processes, development, and host-parasite interactions. Some S. japonicum miRNAs and their clusters could represent the ancestral forms of the conserved orthologues and a model for the genesis of novel miRNAs

Intrinsic Resting-State Activity in Older Adults With Video Game Experience

Playing video games is a prevalent leisure activity in current daily life, and studies have found that video game experience has positive effects in several cognitive domains. However, few studies have examined the effect of video game experience on the amplitude of low-frequency fluctuations (ALFF) among older adults. In the current study, we compared behavioral performance in the flanker task and ALFF activities of older adults, of whom 15 were video game players (VGPs) and 18 non-video game players (NVGPs). The results showed that VGPs outperformed NVGPs in the flanker task and that VGPs showed significantly increased ALFF relative to NVGPs in the left inferior occipital gyrus, left cerebellum and left lingual gyrus. Furthermore, the ALFF in the left inferior occipital gyrus and left lingual gyrus was positively correlated with cognitive performance as measured by Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) scores. These results revealed that playing video games might improve behavioral performance and change intrinsic brain activity in older adults. Future video game training studies in older adults are warranted to provide more evidence of the positive effects of video game experience on behavioral and brain function

Major Population Expansion of East Asians Began before Neolithic Time: Evidence of mtDNA Genomes

It is a major question in archaeology and anthropology whether human populations started to grow primarily after the advent of agriculture, i.e., the Neolithic time, especially in East Asia, which was one of the centers of ancient agricultural civilization. To answer this question requires an accurate estimation of the time of lineage expansion as well as that of population expansion in a population sample without ascertainment bias. In this study, we analyzed all available mtDNA genomes of East Asians ascertained by random sampling, a total of 367 complete mtDNA sequences generated by the 1000 Genome Project, including 249 Chinese (CHB, CHD, and CHS) and 118 Japanese (JPT). We found that major mtDNA lineages underwent expansions, all of which, except for two JPT-specific lineages, including D4, D4b2b, D4a, D4j, D5a2a, A, N9a, F1a1'4, F2, B4, B4a, G2a1 and M7b1'2'4, occurred before 10 kya, i.e., before the Neolithic time (symbolized by Dadiwan Culture at 7.9 kya) in East Asia. Consistent to this observation, the further analysis showed that the population expansion in East Asia started at 13 kya and lasted until 4 kya. The results suggest that the population growth in East Asia constituted a need for the introduction of agriculture and might be one of the driving forces that led to the further development of agriculture

Acupuncture for Essential Hypertension: A Meta-Analysis of Randomized Sham-Controlled Clinical Trials

Background. Acupuncture is frequently advocated as an adjunct treatment for essential hypertension. The aim of this review was to assess its adjunct effectiveness in treating hypertension. Methods. We searched PubMed, the Cochrane Library, EMBASE, and the Chinese databases Sino-Med, CNKI, WanFang, and VIP through November, 2012, for eligible randomized controlled trials that compared acupuncture with sham acupuncture. Outcome measures were changes in diastolic (DBP) and systolic blood pressure (SBP). Results. A total of 4 randomized controlled trials were included. We found no evidence of an improvement with the fact that acupuncture relative to sham acupuncture in SBP change (n=386; mean difference = −3.80 mmHg, 95% CI = −10.03–2.44 mmHg; I2=99%), and an insignificant improvement in DBP change (n=386; mean difference = −2.82 mmHg, 95% CI = −5.22–(−0.43) mmHg; I2=97%). In subgroup analyses, acupuncture significantly improved both SBP and DBP in patients taking antihypertensive medications. Only minor acupuncture-related adverse events were reported. Conclusions. Our results are consistent with acupuncture significantly lowers blood pressure in patients taking antihypertensive medications. We did not find that acupuncture without antihypertensive medications significantly improves blood pressure in those hypertensive patients

VOLTAGE FLICKER ASSESSMENT OF A WEAK SYSTEM INTEGRATED WIND FARM

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