Condensate wave function and elementary excitations of bosonic polar molecules: beyond the first Born approximation

We investigate the condensate wave function and elementary excitations of strongly interacting bosonic polar molecules in a harmonic trap, treating the scattering amplitude beyond the standard first Born approximation (FBA). By using an appropriate trial wave function in the variational method, effects of the leading order correction beyond the FBA have been investigated and shown to be significantly enhanced when the system is close to the phase boundary of collapse. How such leading order effect of going beyond the FBA can be observed in a realistic experiment is also discussed.Comment: 7 pages, 4 figure

Andreev and Single Particle Tunneling Spectroscopies in Underdoped Cuprates

We study tunneling spectroscopy between a normal metal and underdoped cuprate superconductor modeled by a phenomenological theory in which the pseudogap is a precursor to the undoped Mott insulator. In the transparent tunneling limit, the spectra show a small energy gap associated with Andreev reflection. In the Giaever limit, the spectra show a large energy gap associated with single particle tunneling. Our theory semi-quantitatively describes the two gap behavior observed in tunneling experiments.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figures, submitted to Phys. Rev. Lett. minor changes of reference

Regulation of axon repulsion by MAX-1 SUMOylation and AP-3.

During neural development, growing axons express specific surface receptors in response to various environmental guidance cues. These axon guidance receptors are regulated through intracellular trafficking and degradation to enable navigating axons to reach their targets. In Caenorhabditis elegans, the UNC-5 receptor is necessary for dorsal migration of developing motor axons. We previously found that MAX-1 is required for UNC-5-mediated axon repulsion, but its mechanism of action remained unclear. Here, we demonstrate that UNC-5-mediated axon repulsion in C. elegans motor axons requires both max-1 SUMOylation and the AP-3 complex β subunit gene, apb-3 Genetic interaction studies show that max-1 is SUMOylated by gei-17/PIAS1 and acts upstream of apb-3 Biochemical analysis suggests that constitutive interaction of MAX-1 and UNC-5 receptor is weakened by MAX-1 SUMOylation and by the presence of APB-3, a competitive interactor with UNC-5. Overexpression of APB-3 reroutes the trafficking of UNC-5 receptor into the lysosome for protein degradation. In vivo fluorescence recovery after photobleaching experiments shows that MAX-1 SUMOylation and APB-3 are required for proper trafficking of UNC-5 receptor in the axon. Our results demonstrate that SUMOylation of MAX-1 plays an important role in regulating AP-3-mediated trafficking and degradation of UNC-5 receptors during axon guidance

The Arabidopsis Malectin-Like/LRR-RLK IOS1 is Critical for BAK1-Dependent and BAK1-Independent Pattern-Triggered Immunity

Plasma membrane-localized pattern recognition receptors (PRRs) such as FLAGELLIN SENSING2 (FLS2), EF-TU RECEPTOR (EFR) and CHITIN ELICITOR RECEPTOR KINASE 1 (CERK1) recognize microbe-associated molecular patterns (MAMPs) to activate pattern-triggered immunity (PTI). A reverse genetics approach on genes responsive to the priming agent beta-aminobutyric acid (BABA) revealed IMPAIRED OOMYCETE SUSCEPTIBILITY1 (IOS1) as a critical PTI player. Arabidopsis thaliana ios1 mutants were hyper-susceptible to Pseudomonas syringae bacteria. Accordingly, ios1 mutants showed defective PTI responses, notably delayed up-regulation of the PTI-marker gene FLG22-INDUCED RECEPTOR-LIKE KINASE1 (FRK1), reduced callose deposition and mitogen-activated protein kinase activation upon MAMP treatment. Moreover, Arabidopsis lines over-expressing IOS1 were more resistant to bacteria and showed a primed PTI response. In vitro pull-down, bimolecular fluorescence complementation, co-immunoprecipitation, and mass spectrometry analyses supported the existence of complexes between the membrane-localized IOS1 and BRASSINOSTEROID INSENSITIVE1-ASSOCIATED KINASE1 (BAK1)-dependent PRRs FLS2 and EFR, as well as with the BAK1-independent PRR CERK1. IOS1 also associated with BAK1 in a ligand-independent manner, and positively regulated FLS2-BAK1 complex formation upon MAMP treatment. In addition, IOS1 was critical for chitin-mediated PTI. Finally, ios1 mutants were defective in BABA-induced resistance and priming. This work reveals IOS1 as a novel regulatory protein of FLS2-, EFR- and CERK1-mediated signaling pathways that primes PTI activation

Liquid biopsy genotyping in lung cancer: ready for clinical utility?

Liquid biopsy is a blood test that detects evidence of cancer cells or tumor DNA in the circulation. Despite complicated collection methods and the requirement for technique-dependent platforms, it has generated substantial interest due, in part, to its potential to detect driver oncogenes such as epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) mutants in lung cancer. This technology is advancing rapidly and is being incorporated into numerous EGFR tyrosine kinase inhibitor (EGFR-TKI) development programs. It appears ready for integration into clinical care. Recent studies have demonstrated that biological fluids such as saliva and urine can also be used for detecting EGFR mutant DNA through application other user-friendly techniques. This review focuses on the clinical application of liquid biopsies to lung cancer genotyping, including EGFR and other targets of genotype-directed therapy and compares multiple platforms used for liquid biopsy

High-performance InSe Transistors with Ohmic Contact Enabled by Nonrectifying-barrier-type Indium Electrodes

The electrical contact to two-dimensional (2D)-semiconductor materials are decisive to the electronic performance of 2D-semiconductor field-effect devices (FEDs). The presence of a Schottky barrier often leads to a large contact resistance, which seriously limits the channel conductance and carrier mobility measured in a two-terminal geometry. In contrast, ohmic contact is desirable and can be achieved by the presence of a nonrectifying or tunneling barrier. Here, we demonstrate that an nonrectifying barrier can be realized by contacting indium (In), a low work function metal, with layered InSe because of a favorable band alignment at the In-InSe interface. The nonrectifying barrier is manifested by ohmic contact behavior at T=2 K and a low barrier height, {\Phi}$_B$=50 meV. This ohmic contact enables demonstration of an ON-current as large as 410 {\mu}A/{\mu}m, which is among the highest values achieved in FEDs based on layered semiconductors. A high electron mobility of 3,700 and 1,000 cm$^2$/Vs is achieved with the two-terminal In-InSe FEDs at T=2 K and room temperature, respectively, which can be attributed to enhanced quality of both conduction channel and the contacts. The improvement in the contact quality is further proven by an X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy study, which suggests that a reduction effect occurs at the In-InSe interface. The demonstration of high-performance In-InSe FEDs indicates a viable interface engineering method for next-generation, 2D-semiconductor-based electronics