Non-Gaussian Features of Transmitted Flux of QSO's Lyα\alpha Absorption: Intermittent Exponent

We calculate the structure function and intermittent exponent of the 1.) Keck data, which consists of 29 high resolution, high signal to noise ratio (S/N) QSO Ly$\alpha$ absorption spectra, and 2.)the Ly$\alpha$ forest simulation samples produced via the pseudo hydro scheme for the low density cold dark matter (LCDM) model and warm dark matter (WDM) model with particle mass $m_W=300, 600, 800$ and 1000 eV. These two measures detect not only non-gaussianities, but also the type of non-gaussianty in the the field. We find that, 1.) the structure functions of the simulation samples are significantly larger than that of Keck data on scales less than about 100 h$^{-1}$ kpc, 2.) the intermittent exponent of the simulation samples is more negative than that of Keck data on all redshifts considered, 3.) the order-dependence of the structure functions of simulation samples are closer to the intermittency of hierarchical clustering on all scales, while the Keck data are closer to a lognormal field on small scales. These differences are independent of noise and show that the intermittent evolution modeled by the pseudo-hydro simulation is substantially different from observations, even though they are in good agreement in terms of second and lower order statistics. (Abridged)Comment: 17 pages, 13 figures. Accepted by Ap

Band Gap Engineering with Ultralarge Biaxial Strains in Suspended Monolayer MoS2

We demonstrate the continuous and reversible tuning of the optical band gap of suspended monolayer MoS2 membranes by as much as 500 meV by applying very large biaxial strains. By using chemical vapor deposition (CVD) to grow crystals that are highly impermeable to gas, we are able to apply a pressure difference across suspended membranes to induce biaxial strains. We observe the effect of strain on the energy and intensity of the peaks in the photoluminescence (PL) spectrum, and find a linear tuning rate of the optical band gap of 99 meV/%. This method is then used to study the PL spectra of bilayer and trilayer devices under strain, and to find the shift rates and Gr\"uneisen parameters of two Raman modes in monolayer MoS2. Finally, we use this result to show that we can apply biaxial strains as large as 5.6% across micron sized areas, and report evidence for the strain tuning of higher level optical transitions.Comment: Nano Lett., Article ASA

Response to the letter by Udo Bonnet

Peer Reviewedhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/153273/1/nmo13715_am.pdfhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/153273/2/nmo13715.pd

Discovery of molecular subtypes in leiomyosarcoma through integrative molecular profiling.

Leiomyosarcoma (LMS) is a soft tissue tumor with a significant degree of morphologic and molecular heterogeneity. We used integrative molecular profiling to discover and characterize molecular subtypes of LMS. Gene expression profiling was performed on 51 LMS samples. Unsupervised clustering showed three reproducible LMS clusters. Array comparative genomic hybridization (aCGH) was performed on 20 LMS samples and showed that the molecular subtypes defined by gene expression showed distinct genomic changes. Tumors from the muscle-enriched cluster showed significantly increased copy number changes (P=0.04). A majority of the muscle-enriched cases showed loss at 16q24, which contains Fanconi anemia, complementation group A, known to have an important role in DNA repair, and loss at 1p36, which contains PRDM16, of which loss promotes muscle differentiation. Immunohistochemistry (IHC) was performed on LMS tissue microarrays (n=377) for five markers with high levels of messenger RNA in the muscle-enriched cluster (ACTG2, CASQ2, SLMAP, CFL2 and MYLK) and showed significantly correlated expression of the five proteins (all pairwise P<0.005). Expression of the five markers was associated with improved disease-specific survival in a multivariate Cox regression analysis (P<0.04). In this analysis that combined gene expression profiling, aCGH and IHC, we characterized distinct molecular LMS subtypes, provided insight into their pathogenesis, and identified prognostic biomarkers

Trisomy Correction in Down Syndrome Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells

SummaryHuman trisomies can alter cellular phenotypes and produce congenital abnormalities such as Down syndrome (DS). Here we have generated induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) from DS fibroblasts and introduced a TKNEO transgene into one copy of chromosome 21 by gene targeting. When selecting against TKNEO, spontaneous chromosome loss was the most common cause for survival, with a frequency of ∼10−4, while point mutations, epigenetic silencing, and TKNEO deletions occurred at lower frequencies in this unbiased comparison of inactivating mutations. Mitotic recombination events resulting in extended loss of heterozygosity were not observed in DS iPSCs. The derived, disomic cells proliferated faster and produced more endothelia in vivo than their otherwise isogenic trisomic counterparts, but in vitro hematopoietic differentiation was not consistently altered. Our study describes a targeted removal of a human trisomy, which could prove useful in both clinical and research applications

A functional correlate of severity in alternating hemiplegia of childhood

OBJECTIVE: Mutations in ATP1A3, the gene that encodes the α3 subunit of the Na(+)/K(+) ATPase, are the primary cause of alternating hemiplegia of childhood (AHC). Correlations between different mutations and AHC severity were recently reported, with E815K identified in severe and D801N and G947R in milder cases. This study aims to explore the molecular pathological mechanisms in AHC and to identify functional correlates for mutations associated with different levels of disease severity. METHODS: Human wild type ATP1A3, and E815K, D801N and G947R mutants were expressed in Xenopus laevis oocytes and Na(+)/K(+) ATPase function measured. Structural homology models of the human α3 subunit containing AHC mutations were created. RESULTS: The AHC mutations examined all showed similar levels of reduction in forward cycling. Wild type forward cycling was reduced by coexpression with any mutant, indicating dominant negative interactions. Proton transport was measured and found to be selectively impaired only in E815K. Homology modeling showed that D801 and G947 lie within or near known cation binding sites while E815 is more distal. Despite its effect on proton transport, E815K was also distant from the proposed proton transport route. INTERPRETATION: Loss of forward cycling and dominant negativity are common and likely necessary pathomechanisms for AHC. In addition, loss of proton transport correlated with severity of AHC. D801N and G947R are likely to directly disrupt normal Na(+)/K(+) binding while E815K may disrupt forward cycling and proton transport via allosteric mechanisms yet to be elucidated

Two-Stage Rotational Disordering of a Molecular Crystal Surface: C60

We propose a two-stage mechanism for the rotational surface disordering phase transition of a molecular crystal, as realized in C$_{60}$ fullerite. Our study, based on Monte Carlo simulations, uncovers the existence of a new intermediate regime, between a low temperature ordered $(2 \times 2)$ state, and a high temperature $(1 \times 1)$ disordered phase. In the intermediate regime there is partial disorder, strongest for a subset of particularly frustrated surface molecules. These concepts and calculations provide a coherent understanding of experimental observations, with possible extension to other molecular crystal surfaces.Comment: 4 pages, 2 figure