Quantum optical measurement techniques offer a rich avenue for quantum control of mechanical oscillators via cavity optomechanics. In particular, a powerful yet little explored combination utilizes ...optical measurements to perform heralded non-Gaussian mechanical state preparation followed by tomography to determine the mechanical phase-space distribution. Here, we experimentally perform heralded single-phonon and multiphonon subtraction via photon counting to a laser-cooled mechanical thermal state with a Brillouin optomechanical system at room temperature and use optical heterodyne detection to measure the s-parametrized Wigner distribution of the non-Gaussian mechanical states generated. The techniques developed here advance the state of the art for optics-based tomography of mechanical states and will be useful for a broad range of applied and fundamental studies that utilize mechanical quantum-state engineering and tomography.
Summary Background The quality of head and neck cancer reconstruction in England is not known. Hospital administrative data provides details of treatment within the English National Health Service ...and may be used for national outcomes analysis. Methods An algorithm for identifying head and neck surgery with flap-based reconstruction from administrative data was constructed and validated against information from three cancer units. The validated algorithm was applied to 2003–2013 national activity. Results The algorithm was 91% sensitive and over 99% specific. Its application to administrative data identified 11,841 patients and demonstrated an increase of 52% in reconstruction-containing head and neck cancer surgery in the past decade. There were 7776 males and mean treatment age was 62 years. Oral cavity was the commonest primary site ( n = 7567; 64%) and 7575 patients (64%) underwent primary surgery. The commonest procedure was floor-of-mouth excision ( n = 3614) and 9749 patients had a neck dissection. The most commonly used flap was the radial forearm ( n = 4429). Flap failure occurred in 496 (4.2%) patients. It increased the mean length of stay from 22 to 41 days ( P < 0.00001), and the odds ratio of in-hospital death to 2.37 95% confidence interval 1.66–3.38; P < 0.0001. Lethality of reconstructive failure was not uniform and was highest when a pharyngolaryngeal flap failed. Conclusions Reconstructive surgery is central to the multidisciplinary management of head and neck cancer. Its quality directly influences patient morbidity and survival. We recommend that analysis of hospital administrative data should be periodically carried out as part of an over-arching quality assurance programme and, particularly for pharyngolaryngeal reconstructions, surgery should be undertaken in units with the best reconstructive outcomes.
Understanding the structure of the major histocompatibility complex, especially the number and frequency of alleles, loci and haplotypes, is crucial for efficient investigation of the way in which ...the MHC influences susceptibility to disease. Nematode infection is one of the most important diseases suffered by sheep, and the class II region has been repeatedly associated with differences in susceptibility and resistance to infection. Texel sheep are widely used in many different countries and are relatively resistant to infection. This study determined the number and frequency of MHC class II genes in a small flock of Texel sheep. There were 18 alleles at
DRB1
, 9 alleles at
DQA1
, 13 alleles at
DQB1
, 8 alleles at
DQA2
and 16 alleles at
DQB2
. Several haplotypes had no detectable gene products at
DQA1
,
DQB1
or
DQB2
, and these were defined as null alleles. Despite the large numbers of alleles, there were only 21 distinct haplotypes in the population. The relatively small number of observed haplotypes will simplify finding disease associations because common haplotypes provide more statistical power but complicate the discrimination of causative mutations from linked marker loci.
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•33 MHC class II haplotypes were identified in 976 lambs from a flock of Scottish Blackface sheep.•One haplotype containing the resistance allele DRB1*1101 was associated with reduced ...egg counts following natural infection.•This haplotype was also associated with reduced numbers of adult Teladorsagia circumcincta following natural infection.•A comparison of haplotypes indicated that the causative mutations were in or around the DRB1 locus.•Six amino acids in the antigen binding site were associated with resistance to infection.
Lambs with the Major Histocompatibility Complex DRB1*1101 allele have been shown to produce fewer nematode eggs following natural and deliberate infection. These sheep also possess fewer adult Teladorsagia circumcincta than sheep with alternative alleles at the DRB1 locus. However, it is unclear if this allele is responsible for the reduced egg counts or merely acts as a marker for a linked gene. This study defined the MHC haplotypes in a population of naturally infected Scottish Blackface sheep by PCR amplification and sequencing, and examined the associations between MHC haplotypes and faecal egg counts by generalised linear mixed modelling. The DRB1*1101 allele occurred predominately on one haplotype and a comparison of haplotypes indicated that the causal mutation or mutations occurred in or around this locus. Additional comparisons with another resistant haplotype indicated that mutations in or around the DQB2*GU191460 allele were also responsible for resistance to nematode infections. Further analyses identified six amino acid substitutions in the antigen binding site of DRB1*1101 that were significantly associated with reductions in the numbers of adult T. circumcincta.
The LOFAR Two-metre Sky Survey Shimwell, T. W.; Röttgering, H. J. A.; Best, P. N. ...
Astronomy and astrophysics (Berlin),
02/2017, Letnik:
598
Journal Article
Recenzirano
Odprti dostop
The LOFAR Two-metre Sky Survey (LoTSS) is a deep 120–168 MHz imaging survey that will eventually cover the entire northern sky. Each of the 3170 pointings will be observed for 8 h, which, at most ...declinations, is sufficient to produce ∼5 resolution images with a sensitivity of ∼100 µJy/beam and accomplish the main scientific aims of the survey, which are to explore the formation and evolution of massive black holes, galaxies, clusters of galaxies and large-scale structure. Owing to the compact core and long baselines of LOFAR, the images provide excellent sensitivity to both highly extended and compact emission. For legacy value, the data are archived at high spectral and time resolution to facilitate subarcsecond imaging and spectral line studies. In this paper we provide an overview of the LoTSS. We outline the survey strategy, the observational status, the current calibration techniques, a preliminary data release, and the anticipated scientific impact. The preliminary images that we have released were created using a fully automated but direction-independent calibration strategy and are significantly more sensitive than those produced by any existing large-area low-frequency survey. In excess of 44 000 sources are detected in the images that have a resolution of 25 , typical noise levels of less than 0.5 mJy/beam, and cover an area of over 350 square degrees in the region of the HETDEX Spring Field (right ascension 10h45m00s to 15h30m00s and declination 45 • 00 00 to 57 • 00 00).
The LOFAR Two-metre Sky Survey Shimwell, T. W.; Hardcastle, M. J.; Mechev, A. P. ...
Astronomy and astrophysics (Berlin),
02/2019, Letnik:
622
Journal Article
Recenzirano
Odprti dostop
The LOFAR Two-metre Sky Survey (LoTSS) is an ongoing sensitive, high-resolution 120–168 MHz survey of the entire northern sky for which observations are now 20% complete. We present our first ...full-quality public data release. For this data release 424 square degrees, or 2% of the eventual coverage, in the region of the HETDEX Spring Field (right ascension 10h45m00s to 15h30m00s and declination 45°00′00″ to 57°00′00″) were mapped using a fully automated direction-dependent calibration and imaging pipeline that we developed. A total of 325 694 sources are detected with a signal of at least five times the noise, and the source density is a factor of ∼10 higher than the most sensitive existing very wide-area radio-continuum surveys. The median sensitivity is
S
144 MHz
= 71
μ
Jy beam
−1
and the point-source completeness is 90% at an integrated flux density of 0.45 mJy. The resolution of the images is 6″ and the positional accuracy is within 0.2″. This data release consists of a catalogue containing location, flux, and shape estimates together with 58 mosaic images that cover the catalogued area. In this paper we provide an overview of the data release with a focus on the processing of the LOFAR data and the characteristics of the resulting images. In two accompanying papers we provide the radio source associations and deblending and, where possible, the optical identifications of the radio sources together with the photometric redshifts and properties of the host galaxies. These data release papers are published together with a further ∼20 articles that highlight the scientific potential of LoTSS.
Implantation of mammalian embryos depends on differentiation of the blastocyst to a competent state and of the uterine endometrium
to a receptive state. Communication between the blastocyst and ...uterus ensures that these changes are temporally coordinated.
Although considerable evidence indicates that the blastocyst induces expression of numerous genes in uterine tissue, potential
signaling mechanisms have yet to be identified. Moreover, whereas a surge of maternal estradiol occurring on Day 4 of pregnancy
in the mouse is critically required for many of the peri-implantation uterine changes, whether this surge also affects blastocyst
gene expression has not been established. We show here that mouse morulae express genes encoding several members of the Wnt
family of signaling molecules. Additional Wnt genes are newly expressed following development to blastocyst. Unexpectedly, Wnt5a and Wnt11 are expressed in embryos that undergo the morula-to-blastocyst transition in vivo, but only weakly or not at all in embryos
that do so in vitro. Upregulation of Wnt11 is temporally coordinated with the surge of maternal estradiol on Day 4. Wnt11 fails to be upregulated in blastocysts obtained from mice ovariectomized early on Day 4 or from mice treated with the estradiol
antagonist, ICI 182,780. Administration of estradiol-17β or its metabolite, 4-OH-estradiol, to ovariectomized mice restores
Wnt11 expression. Moreover, Wnt11 expression is not upregulated when blastocysts are trapped in the oviduct following ligation of the utero-tubal junction,
nor when estradiol-17β or 4-OH-estradiol are administered to blastocysts in vitro. These results establish a comprehensive
profile of Wnt gene expression during late preimplantation development, demonstrate that estradiol regulates gene expression in the blastocyst
via uterine factors, and identify Wnts as potential mediators of embryo-uterine communication during implantation.
We report unexpected phenomena during magnetization reversal in ultrathin Co films and Co/Pt multilayers with perpendicular anisotropy. Using magneto-optical Kerr microscopy and magnetic force ...microscopy we have observed asymmetrical nucleation centers where the reversal begins for one direction of the field only and is characterized by an acute asymmetry of domain-wall mobility. We have also observed magnetic domains with a continuously varying average magnetization, which can be explained in terms of the coexistence of three magnetic phases: up, down, and striped.
Copy number variants affect both disease and normal phenotypic variation, but those lying within heavily duplicated, highly identical sequence have been difficult to assay. By analyzing short-read ...mapping depth for 159 human genomes, we demonstrated accurate estimation of absolute copy number for duplications as small as 1.9 kilobase pairs, ranging from 0 to 48 copies. We identified 4.1 million "singly unique nucleotide" positions informative in distinguishing specific copies and used them to genotype the copy and content of specific paralogs within highly duplicated gene families. These data identify human-specific expansions in genes associated with brain development, reveal extensive population genetic diversity, and detect signatures consistent with gene conversion in the human species. Our approach makes ~1000 genes accessible to genetic studies of disease association.
The underlying basis of many forms of syndromic craniosynostosis has been defined on a molecular level. However, many patients with familial or sporadic craniosynostosis do not have the classical ...findings of those craniosynostosis syndromes. Here we present 61 individuals from 20 unrelated families where coronal synostosis is due to an amino acid substitution (Pro250Arg) that results from a single point mutation in the fibroblast growth factor receptor 3 gene on chromosome 4p. In this instance, a new clinical syndrome is being defined on the basis of the molecular finding. In addition to the skull findings, some patients had abnormalities on radiographs of hands and feet, including thimble-like middle phalanges, coned epiphyses, and carpal and tarsal fusions. Brachydactyly was seen in some cases; none had clinically significant syndactyly or deviation of the great toe. Sensorineural hearing loss was present in some, and developmental delay was seen in a minority. While the radiological findings of hands and feet can be very helpful in diagnosing this syndrome, it is not in all cases clearly distinguishable on a clinical basis from other craniosynostosis syndromes. Therefore, this mutation should be tested for in patients with coronal synostosis.
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