Transcriptional factor PU.1 regulates decidual C1q expression in early pregnancy in human

"Copyright: © 2015 Madhukaran, Kishore, Jamil, Teo, Choolani and Lu. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms."C1q is the first recognition subcomponent of the complement classical pathway, which in addition to being synthesized in the liver, is also expressed by macrophages and dendritic cells (DCs). Trophoblast invasion during early placentation results in accumulation of debris that triggers the complement system. Hence, both early and late components of the classical pathway are widely distributed in the placenta and decidua. In addition, C1q has recently been shown to significantly contribute to feto-maternal tolerance, trophoblast migration, and spiral artery remodeling, although the exact mechanism remains unknown. Pregnancy in mice, genetically deficient in C1q, mirrors symptoms similar to that of human preeclampsia. Thus, regulated complement activation has been proposed as an essential requirement for normal successful pregnancy. Little is known about the molecular pathways that regulate C1q expression in pregnancy. PU.1, an Ets-family transcription factor, is required for the development of hematopoietic myeloid lineage immune cells, and its expression is tissue-specific. Recently, PU.1 has been shown to regulate C1q gene expression in DCs and macrophages. Here, we have examined if PU.1 transcription factor regulates decidual C1q expression. We used immune-histochemical analysis, PCR, and immunostaining to localize and study the gene expression of PU.1 transcription factor in early human decidua. PU.1 was highly expressed at gene and protein level in early human decidual cells including trophoblast and stromal cells. Surprisingly, nuclear as well as cytoplasmic PU.1 expression was observed. Decidual cells with predominantly nuclear PU.1 expression had higher C1q expression. It is likely that nuclear and cytoplasmic PU.1 localization has a role to play in early pregnancy via regulating C1q expression in the decidua during implantation

The Vortex Phase Qubit: Generating Arbitrary, Counter-Rotating, Coherent Superpositions in Bose-Einstein Condensates via Optical Angular Momentum Beams

We propose a scheme for generation of arbitrary coherent superposition of vortex states in Bose-Einstein condensates (BEC) using the orbital angular momentum (OAM) states of light. We devise a scheme to generate coherent superpositions of two counter-rotating OAM states of light using known experimental techniques. We show that a specially designed Raman scheme allows transfer of the optical vortex superposition state onto an initially non-rotating BEC. This creates an arbitrary and coherent superposition of a vortex and anti-vortex pair in the BEC. The ideas presented here could be extended to generate entangled vortex states, design memories for the OAM states of light, and perform other quantum information tasks. Applications to inertial sensing are also discussed.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figures, Revtex4, to be submitted to Phys. Rev. Let

Comparison of temperature coefficient of standard inductor by measuring change in inductance and resistance

Standard inductors manufactured by General Radio (GR) are widely used by NMIs. The temperature coefficient for these standard inductors is 30 ± 5 ppm/°C, as per manufacturer. NPL India (NPLI) had earlier determined the temperature coefficient of standard inductors by measuring change in inductance. Now by measuring change in resistance, temperature coefficient of inductors is re-determined. Temperature coefficients determined from the two methods are reported here

On prominent TRIP effect and non-basal slip in a TWIP high entropy alloy during high-pressure torsion processing

Severe plastic deformation response of a face centered cubic (FCC) twinning induced plasticity (TWIP) high entropy alloy (HEA), Fe40Mn40Co10Cr10, subjected to high-pressure torsion (HPT) is investigated. The so-called TWIP HEA demonstrated an extensive transformation induced plasticity (TRIP) effect even in 1/2 turn (shear strain, gamma = 15) of HPT processing, which increased further with increasing the number of turns to 2 (gamma = 68). Additionally, HPT induced nano-structuring and heavily dislocated structure; dislocation density was of the order of 1015 m- 2. c/a ratio of the transformed HCP phase was found to be <1.633 and it did not change with increasing the extent of shear strain. This was manifested as the occurrence of at least 50% non-basal slip in the HCP phase. For the first time, the fraction of c c+a dislocations are quantified and their evolution are discussed in the purview of the studied alloy. The micro-mechanism of strain accommodation is correlated with increasing hardness of the HEA upon sequential HPT processing. The present work provides a viewpoint that the deformation induced HCP phase in a metastable FCC HEA can have tailored c/a ratio which triggers non-basal slip, leading to a strong and ductile material

Self-Organized Dynamical Equilibrium in the Corrosion of Random Solids

Self-organized criticality is characterized by power law correlations in the non-equilibrium steady state of externally driven systems. A dynamical system proposed here self-organizes itself to a critical state with no characteristic size at ``dynamical equilibrium''. The system is a random solid in contact with an aqueous solution and the dynamics is the chemical reaction of corrosion or dissolution of the solid in the solution. The initial difference in chemical potential at the solid-liquid interface provides the driving force. During time evolution, the system undergoes two transitions, roughening and anti-percolation. Finally, the system evolves to a dynamical equilibrium state characterized by constant chemical potential and average cluster size. The cluster size distribution exhibits power law at the final equilibrium state.Comment: 11 pages, 5 figure

The Orbit of WASP-12b Is Decaying

WASP-12b is a transiting hot Jupiter on a 1.09 day orbit around a late-F star. Since the planet's discovery in 2008, the time interval between transits has been decreasing by 29 ± 2 ms yr⁻¹. This is a possible sign of orbital decay, although the previously available data left open the possibility that the planet's orbit is slightly eccentric and is undergoing apsidal precession. Here, we present new transit and occultation observations that provide more decisive evidence for orbital decay, which is favored over apsidal precession by a ΔBIC of 22.3 or Bayes factor of 70,000. We also present new radial-velocity data that rule out the Rømer effect as the cause of the period change. This makes WASP-12 the first planetary system for which we can be confident that the orbit is decaying. The decay timescale for the orbit is P/P˙=3.25±0.23. Interpreting the decay as the result of tidal dissipation, the modified stellar tidal quality factor is Q′⋆=1.8×10⁵

Inverse Iron Isotope Effect on the transition temperature of the (Ba,K)Fe2As2 superconductor

We report that (Ba,K)Fe2As2 superconductor (a transition temperature, Tc = 38 K) shows inverse Iron isotope effect (-0.18) (the sample including the larger atomic weight of Fe depicts higher Tc). Measurements of both temperature dependent magnetization and resistivity reveal a clear inverse shift by systematic studies on Tc using three types of Fe-isotopes (Fe-54, natural Fe and Fe-57). This indicates the first evidence of the inverse isotope effect in high-Tc superconductors. This atomic mass dependence on Tc implies the exotic coupling mechanism.Comment: 12 pages, 6 figure

CAPACITY BUILDING FOR RS & GIS TECHNOLOGY APPLICATIONS: STUDENT REMOTE SENSING AND GEOSPATIAL PROGRAMME IN ACADEMIC INSTITUTIONS

Digital India program aims to transform India into a knowledge economy with Smart Cities / Smart Villages etc. It depends significantly on Remote Sensing (RS) and Geographic Information Systems (GIS). It requires enormous computing Infrastructure and RS-GIS trained professionals along with Information and Communications Technology (ICT). Satellite based Earth Observation (EO) data volumes are increasing at a rate of several Terabytes a Day in heterogeneous formats (different spatial and temporal resolutions in optical, thermal and microwave). The recent trends towards free and open access policy creates unprecedented opportunities for both industrial and academic research communities for Big Data applications.During the last decade, Engineering Institutions across the nation have improved significantly in terms of high end computing, Wi-Fi campuses and qualified faculty to help students. Agricultural Universities/Colleges are also making extensive use of RS-GIS technology. Many research papers are also being published by students from Engineering / Agricultural Institutions in the domain of RS–GIS. Here lies the scope for enhanced collaboration between ISRO / Industry and Academia in the form of Student Remote Sensing and Geospatial programme (SRSGP) for scaling up operational services to sustain Digital India and boost the Geospatial Readiness Index of the nation. It will expand the hands-on experience of the student community and enrich their job-readiness in the industry and lead to development of trained RS-GIS professionals. It has the potential to make Digital India the global destination for RS-GIS applications similar to how Y-2K made India the global IT-destination.</p