Genome-wide autozygosity is associated with lower general cognitive ability

Inbreeding depression refers to lower fitness among offspring of genetic relatives. This reduced fitness is caused by the inheritance of two identical chromosomal segments (autozygosity) across the genome, which may expose the effects of (partially) recessive deleterious mutations. Even among outbred populations, autozygosity can occur to varying degrees due to cryptic relatedness between parents. Using dense genome-wide single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) data, we examined the degree to which autozygosity associated with measured cognitive ability in an unselected sample of 4854 participants of European ancestry. We used runs of homozygosity-multiple homozygous SNPs in a row-to estimate autozygous tracts across the genome. We found that increased levels of autozygosity predicted lower general cognitive ability, and estimate a drop of 0.6 s.d. among the offspring of first cousins (P=0.003-0.02 depending on the model). This effect came predominantly from long and rare autozygous tracts, which theory predicts as more likely to be deleterious than short and common tracts. Association mapping of autozygous tracts did not reveal any specific regions that were predictive beyond chance after correcting for multiple testing genome wide. The observed effect size is consistent with studies of cognitive decline among offspring of known consanguineous relationships. These findings suggest a role for multiple recessive or partially recessive alleles in general cognitive ability, and that alleles decreasing general cognitive ability have been selected against over evolutionary time.Molecular Psychiatry advance online publication, 22 September 2015; doi:10.1038/mp.2015.120

Collins effect and single spin azimuthal asymmetries in the HERMES and COMPASS experiments

Predictions are made for single spin azimuthal asymmetries due to the Collins effect in pion production from semi-inclusive deeply inelastic scattering off transversely and longitudinally polarized targets for the HERMES and COMPASS experiments. The x-dependence of the asymmetries is evaluated using the parton distribution functions from the chiral quark-soliton model. The overall normalization of the predicted asymmetries is determined by the information on the Collins fragmentation function extracted from previous HERMES data on azimuthal asymmetries from a longitudinally polarized target. The single spin asymmetries from the transversely polarized proton target are found to be about 20% for positive and neutral pions both at HERMES and COMPASS. For a longitudinally polarized target we obtain for COMPASS a sin(phi) asymmetry of 1% and a sin(2phi) asymmetry of about 3%.Comment: 10 pages, 9 figures, Ref.[29] adde

Measurement of the LT-asymmetry in \pi^0 electroproduction at the energy of the \Delta (1232) resonance

The reaction p(e,e'p)pi^0 has been studied at Q^2=0.2 (GeV/c)^2 in the region of W=1232 MeV. From measurements left and right of q, cross section asymmetries \rho_LT have been obtained in forward kinematics \rho_LT(\theta_\pi^0=20deg) = (-11.68 +/- 2.36_stat +/- 2.36_sys)$ and backward kinematics \rho_LT(\theta_\pi^0=160deg) =(12.18 +/- 0.27_stat +/- 0.82_sys). Multipole ratios \Re(S_1+^* M_1+)/|M_1+|^2 and \Re(S_0+^* M_1+)/|M_1+|^2 were determined in the framework of the MAID2003 model. The results are in agreement with older data. The unusally strong negative \Re(S_0+^* M_1+)/|M_1+|^2 required to bring also the result of Kalleicher et al. in accordance with the rest of the data is almost excluded.Comment: 7 pages, 7 figures, 4 tables. Changed content. Accepted for publication in EPJ

Generalized parton distributions from nucleon form factor data

We present a simple empirical parameterization of the x- and t-dependence of generalized parton distributions at zero skewness, using forward parton distributions as input. A fit to experimental data for the Dirac, Pauli and axial form factors of the nucleon allows us to discuss quantitatively the interplay between longitudinal and transverse partonic degrees of freedom in the nucleon ("nucleon tomography"). In particular we obtain the transverse distribution of valence quarks at given momentum fraction x. We calculate various moments of the distributions, including the form factors that appear in the handbag approximation to wide-angle Compton scattering. This allows us to estimate the minimal momentum transfer required for reliable predictions in that approach to be around |t|~3 GeV^2. We also evaluate the valence contributions to the energy-momentum form factors entering Ji's sum rule.Comment: 69 pages, 36 figures. v2: small improvements in text and figures; references adde

Economic assessment of use of pond ash in pavements

The paper introduces a new type of industrial waste-based subbase material which can replace conventional subbase material (CSM) in pavement construction. Utilisation of this industrial waste, namely pond coal ash produced from a thermal power plant in road construction will help to reduce the disposal problem of this waste and also will help to reduce the problem of scarcity of CSM. Lime and fibre were also added to the pond ash at various percentages to improve the suitability of this type of mix as subbase material. The optimum service life of pavement is studied with the help of numerical modelling and the cost benefit is also presented in the current study. The study reveals that stabilisation of the coal ash with 2% lime may produce an optimal material and, even though a greater thickness may be required to deliver the same pavement performance, direct cost savings of around 10% may be achieved in addition to less easily quantifiable environmental benefits. Design charts are provided to exploit the findings

Two-pion Bose-Einstein correlations in central Pb-Pb collisions at sNN\sqrt{s_{\rm NN}} = 2.76 TeV

The first measurement of two-pion Bose-Einstein correlations in central Pb-Pb collisions at $\sqrt{s_{\rm NN}} = 2.76$ TeV at the Large Hadron Collider is presented. We observe a growing trend with energy now not only for the longitudinal and the outward but also for the sideward pion source radius. The pion homogeneity volume and the decoupling time are significantly larger than those measured at RHIC.Comment: 17 pages, 5 captioned figures, 1 table, authors from page 12, published version, figures at http://aliceinfo.cern.ch/ArtSubmission/node/388

Open-Circuit Photovoltage and Charge Recombination at Semiconductor/Liquid Interfaces

The open-circuit photovoltage (Voc) of semiconductor/ liquid junction solar cells is a critical parameter in determining the energy conversion efficiency. The fundamental process controlling Voc is the recombination of photoexcited electrons and holes. 1' 2 The lower the recombination rate, the larger the Voc. The predominant energy-loss mechanism is determined by competition among the following processes: majority-carrier thermionic emission over the surface barrier, ~ majority-carrier charge transfer across the semiconductor/liquid interface, ~' 4 minority-carrier diffusion/recombination in the bulk of the semiconductor, ~' 8 space-charge recombination, 7 and surface recombination mediated by recombination centers. 8-13 The extent to which each of these processes is understood differs considerably. For example, expressions describing the minority-carrier diffusion/recombination in the bulk semiconductor contacting a redox electrolyte is obtained by direct analogy to formulas developed for solid-state p-n junction devices. ~ When bulk diffusion/recombination is the dominant recombination process, the dependence of Vo~ on the semiconductor bandgap, doping level, and minority-carrier diffusion length can be expressed in simple analytic forms? In contrast, surface recombination has generally been treated in a more complex fashion by numerical simulation. TM In cases in which Voe is limited by surface recombination, no simple analytic expression exists for relating Vo~ and the surface recombination velocity (Sr)-Several groups TM have considered theoretically the effect of surface recombination on the performance of photoelectrochemical (PEC) cells. Although each treatment has achieved some success in describing a certain aspect of the effect of surface recombination, these treatments are generally considered qualitative3 ~ For the most part, it has been difficult to extract quantitative information on surface recombination from * Electrochemical Society Active Member. Visiting professor, on leave of absence from Korea University, Seoul, Korea. experimental results because of the number of adjustable (and often arbitrary) parameters involved in numerical analyses. Up to now, only one study 11 has dealt directly with the dependence of Voc on the surface recombination current; however, because bias-independent surface recombination currents in arbitrary units were used in the numerical calculation, it is difficult to apply the model of this study for interpreting quantitatively experimental measurements. Other studies 8-I~ have focused mainly on the general shape of the photocurrent-voltage (J-V) curves, without addressing the dependence of Voo on Sr. b The absence of a theoretical framework relating Sr to Vo~ impedes the understanding of such processes at the solid/liquid interface. In this article, we derive a simple quantitative expression, based on semiconductor solid-state theory, that directly relates Sr to Voc. The applicability of the expression to account for the PEC behavior of n-St/acetone with FeCp~ j~ (ferrocenium ion/ferrocene) is then investigated. Based on J-Vdata and the dependence of Voe on both the temperature and the concentration of FeCp~, we are able to exclude other possible recombination channels and identify surface recombination as the dominant recombination process in determining Voc. The surface recombination velocity deduced from experimental results compares favorably with reported values. The application of the analytic expression to other PEC systems reported in the literature is also discussed. b The effect of surface recombination is generally discussed in terms of the photoeurrent onset potential. However, unlike the concept of the "open-circuit photovoltage," the "photoeurrent onset potential" is an empirical quantity that cannot be precisely defined. The photocurrent onset potential depends on both Voc and the fill factor. The latter two parameters are more definable quantities and are more relevant in calculating the PEC conversion efficiency

Measurement of the flavour-specific CP-violating asymmetry as sl in B0s decays

The CP  -violating asymmetry is studied using semileptonic decays of and mesons produced in pp   collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of 7 TeV at the LHC, exploiting a data sample corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 1.0 fb−1. The reconstructed final states are , with the particle decaying in the ϕπ± mode. The yields are summed over and initial states, and integrated with respect to decay time. Data-driven methods are used to measure efficiency ratios. We obtain , where the first uncertainty is statistical and the second systematic