2,716 research outputs found
Measurement of a Sign-Changing Two-Gap Superconducting Phase in Electron-Doped Ba(Fe_{1-x}Co_x)_2As_2 Single Crystals using Scanning Tunneling Spectroscopy
Scanning tunneling spectroscopic studies of (x =
0.06, 0.12) single crystals reveal direct evidence for predominantly two-gap
superconductivity. These gaps decrease with increasing temperature and vanish
above the superconducting transition . The two-gap nature and the slightly
doping- and energy-dependent quasiparticle scattering interferences near the
wave-vectors and are consistent with
sign-changing -wave superconductivity. The excess zero-bias conductance and
the large gap-to- ratios suggest dominant unitary impurity scattering.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figures. Paper accepted for publication in Physical Review
Letters. Contact author: Nai-Chang Yeh ([email protected]
Crown Radius and Diameter at Breast Height Relationships for Six Bottomland Hardwood Species
The relationship between a tree\u27s crown radius and diameter at breast height (DBH) has a variety of uses including forest competition studies, tree crown densities, spacing and stocking relationships, wildlife habitat suitability models, and tree volume estimations. Estimating DBH from mean crown radius (MCR) is of interest to natural resource managers because MCR can be estimated from high resolution digital imagery using remote sensing techniques. DBH is a common tree dimensional characteristic that is used to quantify tree and stand structure. This research presents MCR/DBH and DBH/MCR relationships for boxelder (Acer negundo L.), sweet pecan (Carya illinoensis (Wang) K.Koch), sugarberry (Celtis laevigata Willd.), green ash (Fraxinus pennsylvanica Marsh.), Nuttall oak (Quercus nuttallii Palmer), and American elm (Ulmus americana L.). The linear model, y =a+b * x, provided the best model fit with adjusted r values of 0.567 to 0.855 for the 6 species. Crown radius can be determined from digital imagery and then used to predict DBH
On the Numerical Study of the Complexity and Fractal Dimension of CMB Anisotropies
We consider the problem of numerical computation of the Kolmogorov complexity
and the fractal dimension of the anisotropy spots of Cosmic Microwave
Background (CMB) radiation. Namely, we describe an algorithm of estimation of
the complexity of spots given by certain pixel configuration on a grid and
represent the results of computations for a series of structures of different
complexity. Thus, we demonstrate the calculability of such an abstract
descriptor as the Kolmogorov complexity for CMB digitized maps. The correlation
of complexity of the anisotropy spots with their fractal dimension is revealed
as well. This technique can be especially important while analyzing the data of
the forthcoming space experiments.Comment: LATEX, 3 figure
Asymptotically cylindrical 7-manifolds of holonomy G_2 with applications to compact irreducible G_2-manifolds
We construct examples of exponentially asymptotically cylindrical Riemannian
7-manifolds with holonomy group equal to G_2. To our knowledge, these are the
first such examples. We also obtain exponentially asymptotically cylindrical
coassociative calibrated submanifolds. Finally, we apply our results to show
that one of the compact G_2-manifolds constructed by Joyce by desingularisation
of a flat orbifold T^7/\Gamma can be deformed to one of the compact
G_2-manifolds obtainable as a generalized connected sum of two exponentially
asymptotically cylindrical SU(3)-manifolds via the method given by the first
author (math.DG/0012189).Comment: 36 pages; v2: corrected trivial typos; v3: some arguments corrected
and improved; v4: a number of improvements on presentation, paritularly in
sections 4 and 6, including an added picture
Elevated alpha-synuclein caused by SNCA gene triplication impairs neuronal differentiation and maturation in Parkinson's patient-derived induced pluripotent stem cells
We have assessed the impact of α-synuclein overexpression on the differentiation potential and phenotypic signatures of two neural-committed induced pluripotent stem cell lines derived from a ParkinsonÂŽs disease patient with a triplication of the human SNCA genomic locus. In parallel, comparative studies were performed on two control lines derived from healthy individuals and lines generated from the patient iPS-derived neuroprogenitor lines infected with a lentivirus incorporating a small hairpin RNA to knock down the SNCA mRNA. The SNCA triplication lines exhibited a reduced capacity to differentiate into dopaminergic or GABAergic neurons and decreased neurite outgrowth and lower neuronal activity compared with control cultures. This delayed maturation phenotype was confirmed by gene expression profiling, which revealed a significant reduction in mRNA for genes implicated in neuronal differentiation such as delta-like homolog 1 (DLK1), gamma-aminobutyric acid type B receptor subunit 2 (GABABR2), nuclear receptor related 1 protein (NURR1), G-protein-regulated inward-rectifier potassium channel 2 (GIRK-2) and tyrosine hydroxylase (TH). The differentiated patient cells also demonstrated increased autophagic flux when stressed with chloroquine. We conclude that a two-fold overexpression of α-synuclein caused by a triplication of the SNCA gene is sufficient to impair the differentiation of neuronal progenitor cells, a finding with implications for adult neurogenesis and ParkinsonÂŽs disease progression, particularly in the context of bioenergetic dysfunction.Fil: Oliveira, L. M. A.. Max-Planck-Institut fĂŒr biophysikalische Chemie; AlemaniaFil: Falomir Lockhart, Lisandro Jorge. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones CientĂficas y TĂ©cnicas. Centro CientĂfico TecnolĂłgico Conicet - La Plata. Instituto de Investigaciones BioquĂmicas de La Plata "Prof. Dr. Rodolfo R. Brenner". Universidad Nacional de la Plata. Facultad de Ciencias MĂ©dicas. Instituto de Investigaciones BioquĂmicas de La Plata ; Argentina. Max-Planck-Institut fĂŒr biophysikalische Chemie; AlemaniaFil: Botelho, M. G.. Max-Planck-Institut fĂŒr biophysikalische Chemie; Alemania. Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro; BrasilFil: Lin, K. H.. Max-Planck-Institut fĂŒr biophysikalische Chemie; AlemaniaFil: Wales, P.. UniversitĂ€t Göttingen; AlemaniaFil: Koch, J. C.. UniversitĂ€t Göttingen; AlemaniaFil: Gerhardt, Elizabeth. UniversitĂ€t Göttingen; AlemaniaFil: Taschenberger, H.. Max-Planck-Institut fĂŒr biophysikalische Chemie; AlemaniaFil: Outeiro, T. F.. UniversitĂ€t Göttingen; AlemaniaFil: Lingor, P.. UniversitĂ€t Göttingen; AlemaniaFil: SchĂŒele, B.. The Parkinsonâs Institute; Estados UnidosFil: Arndt Jovin, D. J.. Max-Planck-Institut fĂŒr biophysikalische Chemie; AlemaniaFil: Jovin, T. M.. Max-Planck-Institut fĂŒr biophysikalische Chemie; Alemani
Treatment utilization and outcomes in elderly patients with locally advanced esophageal carcinoma: A review of the National Cancer Database
For elderly patients with locally advanced esophageal cancer, therapeutic approaches and outcomes in a modern cohort are not well characterized. Patients â„70Â years old with clinical stage II and III esophageal cancer diagnosed between 1998 and 2012 were identified from the National Cancer Database and stratified based on treatment type. Variables associated with treatment utilization were evaluated using logistic regression and survival evaluated using Cox proportional hazards analysis. Propensity matching (1:1) was performed to help account for selection bias. A total of 21,593 patients were identified. Median and maximum ages were 77 and 90, respectively. Treatment included palliative therapy (24.3%), chemoradiation (37.1%), trimodality therapy (10.0%), esophagectomy alone (5.6%), or no therapy (12.9%). Age â„80 (OR 0.73), female gender (OR 0.81), Charlson-Deyo comorbidity score â„2 (OR 0.82), and high-volume centers (OR 0.83) were associated with a decreased likelihood of palliative therapy versus no treatment. Age â„80 (OR 0.79) and Clinical Stage III (OR 0.33) were associated with a decreased likelihood, while adenocarcinoma histology (OR 1.33) and nonacademic cancer centers (OR 3.9), an increased likelihood of esophagectomy alone compared to definitive chemoradiation. Age â„80 (OR 0.15), female gender (OR 0.80), and non-Caucasian race (OR 0.63) were associated with a decreased likelihood, while adenocarcinoma histology (OR 2.10) and high-volume centers (OR 2.34), an increased likelihood of trimodality therapy compared to definitive chemoradiation. Each treatment type demonstrated improved survival compared to no therapy: palliative treatment (HR 0.49) to trimodality therapy (HR 0.25) with significance between all groups. Any therapy, including palliative care, was associated with improved survival; however, subsets of elderly patients with locally advanced esophageal cancer are less likely to receive aggressive therapy. Care should be taken to not unnecessarily deprive these individuals of treatment that may improve survival
DNA hybridization to mismatched templates: a chip study
High-density oligonucleotide arrays are among the most rapidly expanding
technologies in biology today. In the {\sl GeneChip} system, the reconstruction
of the target concentration depends upon the differential signal generated from
hybridizing the target RNA to two nearly identical templates: a perfect match
(PM) and a single mismatch (MM) probe. It has been observed that a large
fraction of MM probes repeatably bind targets better than the PMs, against the
usual expectation from sequence-specific hybridization; this is difficult to
interpret in terms of the underlying physics. We examine this problem via a
statistical analysis of a large set of microarray experiments. We classify the
probes according to their signal to noise () ratio, defined as the
eccentricity of a (PM, MM) pair's `trajectory' across many experiments. Of
those probes having large () only a fraction behave consistently with
the commonly assumed hybridization model. Our results imply that the physics of
DNA hybridization in microarrays is more complex than expected, and they
suggest new ways of constructing estimators for the target RNA concentration.Comment: 3 figures 1 tabl
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