The Simplicial Characterisation of TS networks: Theory and applications

We use the visibility algorithm to construct the time series networks obtained from the time series of different dynamical regimes of the logistic map. We define the simplicial characterisers of networks which can analyse the simplicial structure at both the global and local levels. These characterisers are used to analyse the TS networks obtained in different dynamical regimes of the logisitic map. It is seen that the simplicial characterisers are able to distinguish between distinct dynamical regimes. We also apply the simplicial characterisers to time series networks constructed from fMRI data, where the preliminary results indicate that the characterisers are able to differentiate between distinct TS networks.Comment: 11 pages, 2 figures, 4 tables. Accepted for publication in Proceedings of the 4th International Conference on Applications in Nonlinear Dynamics (ICAND 2016

A Hexa-Herbal TCM Decoction Used to Treat Skin Inflammation: An LC-MS-Based Phytochemical Analysis

In order to understand the chemical relationship between a traditional hexa-herbal Chinese medicine formula and botanical drugs it is derived from, an analytical platform comprising liquid chromatography coupled with triple quadrupole mass spectrometry and data mining was developed to separate and identify key chemical components. The hexa-herbal formula comprises the rootstock of Scutellaria baicalensis, Rheum tanguticum, Sophora flavescens, the root bark of Dictamnus dasycarpus, the bark of Phellodendron chinense, and the fruit of Kochia scoparia. Seventy-three compounds including alkaloids, anthraquinone derivatives, coumarins, coumarins derivatives, flavonoids, flavone glycosides, naphthalene derivatives, phenylbutanone glucopyranoside, phenolic acids, pterocarpans, stilbenes, stilbenes derivatives, and tannins were putatively identified based on mass measurement and characteristic fragment ions. Among the botanical drugs of the hexa-herbal Chinese medicine formula, the rootstock of R. tanguticum and S. flavescens, bark of P. chinense, and rootstock of S. baicalensis contributed to the majority of the extracted metabolites of the formula decoction. The developed method appeared to be a versatile tool for monitoring chemical constituents in extracts of a traditional Chinese medicine formula in a relatively comprehensive and systematic manner, and helped to understand the importance of the individual botanical drugs within a formulation

Near-Infrared Super Resolution Imaging with Metallic Nanoshell Particle Chain Array

We propose a near-infrared super resolution imaging system without a lens or a mirror but with an array of metallic nanoshell particle chain. The imaging array can plasmonically transfer the near-field components of dipole sources in the incoherent and coherent manners and the super resolution images can be reconstructed in the output plane. By tunning the parameters of the metallic nanoshell particle, the plasmon resonance band of the isolate nanoshell particle red-shifts to the near-infrared region. The near-infrared super resolution images are obtained subsequently. We calculate the field intensity distribution at the different planes of imaging process using the finite element method and find that the array has super resolution imaging capability at near-infrared wavelengths. We also show that the image formation highly depends on the coherence of the dipole sources and the image-array distance.Comment: 15 pages, 6 figure

Analysis of circadian pattern reveals tissue-specific alternative transcription in leptin signaling pathway

*Background*
It has been previously reported that most mammalian genes display a circadian oscillation in their baseline expression. Consequently, the phase and amplitude of each component of a signal transduction cascade has downstream consequences. 

*Results*
We report our analysis of alternative transcripts in the leptin signaling pathway which is responsible for the systemic regulation of macronutrient storage and energy balance. We focused on the circadian expression pattern of a critical component of the leptin signaling system, suppressor of cytokine signaling 3 (SOCS3). On an Affymetrix GeneChip 430A2 microarray, this gene is represented by three probe sets targeting different regions within the 3’ end of the last exon. We demonstrate that in murine brown adipose tissue two downstream 3’ probe sets experience circadian baseline oscillation in counter-phase to the upstream probe set. Such differences in expression patterns are a telltale sign of alternative splicing within the last exon of SOCS3. In contrast, all three probe sets oscillated in a common phase in murine liver and white adipose tissue. This suggests that the regulation of SOCS3 expression in brown fat is tissue specific. Another component of the signaling pathway, Janus kinase (JAK), is directly regulated by SOCS and has alternative transcript probe sets oscillating in counter-phase in a white adipose tissue specific manner.
 
*Conclusion*
We hypothesize that differential oscillation of alternative transcripts may provide a mechanism to maintain steady levels of expression in spite of circadian baseline variation

Pinwheel VBS state and triplet excitations in the two-dimensional deformed kagome lattice

Determining ground states of correlated electron systems is fundamental to understanding novel phenomena in condensed matter physics. A difficulty, however, arises in a geometrically frustrated system in which the incompatibility between the global topology of an underlying lattice and local spin interactions gives rise to macroscopically degenerate ground states, potentially prompting the emergence of quantum spin states, such as resonating valence bond (RVB) and valence bond solid (VBS). Although theoretically proposed to exist in a kagome lattice -- one of the most highly frustrated lattices in two dimensions (2D) being comprised of corner-sharing triangles -- such quantum-fluctuation-induced states have not been observed experimentally. Here we report the first realization of the "pinwheel" VBS ground state in the S=1/2 deformed kagome lattice antiferromagnet Rb2Cu3SnF12. In this system, a lattice distortion breaks the translational symmetry of the ideal kagome lattice and stabilizes the VBS state.Comment: 10 pages, 4 figures and Supplemental Informatio

Visual ecology of aphids – a critical review on the role of colours in host finding

We review the rich literature on behavioural responses of aphids (Hemiptera: Aphididae) to stimuli of different colours. Only in one species there are adequate physiological data on spectral sensitivity to explain behaviour crisply in mechanistic terms. Because of the great interest in aphid responses to coloured targets from an evolutionary, ecological and applied perspective, there is a substantial need to expand these studies to more species of aphids, and to quantify spectral properties of stimuli rigorously. We show that aphid responses to colours, at least for some species, are likely based on a specific colour opponency mechanism, with positive input from the green domain of the spectrum and negative input from the blue and/or UV region. We further demonstrate that the usual yellow preference of aphids encountered in field experiments is not a true colour preference but involves additional brightness effects. We discuss the implications for agriculture and sensory ecology, with special respect to the recent debate on autumn leaf colouration. We illustrate that recent evolutionary theories concerning aphid–tree interactions imply far-reaching assumptions on aphid responses to colours that are not likely to hold. Finally we also discuss the implications for developing and optimising strategies of aphid control and monitoring

Magnetic domain tuning and the emergence of bubble domains in the bilayer manganite La 2−2x Sr 1+2x Mn 2 O 7 (x=0.32)

We report a magnetic force microscopy study of the magnetic domain evolution in the layered manganite La2-2x Sr1+2x Mn2O7 (with x = 0.32). This strongly correlated electron compound is known to exhibit a wide range of magnetic phases, including a recently uncovered biskyrmion phase. We observe a continuous transition from dendritic to stripelike domains, followed by the formation of magnetic bubbles due to a field-and temperaturedependent competition between in-plane and out-of-plane spin alignments. The magnetic bubble phase appears at comparable field and temperature ranges as the biskyrmion phase, suggesting a close relation between both phases. Based on our real-space images we construct a temperature-field phase diagram for this composition.open115Ysciescopu

Health-related quality of life as measured with EQ-5D among populations with and without specific chronic conditions: A population-based survey in Shaanxi province, China

© 2013 Tan et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.Introduction: The aim of this study was to examine health-related quality of life (HRQoL) as measured by EQ-5D and to investigate the influence of chronic conditions and other risk factors on HRQoL based on a distributed sample located in Shaanxi Province, China. Methods: A multi-stage stratified cluster sampling method was performed to select subjects. EQ-5D was employed to measure the HRQoL. The likelihood that individuals with selected chronic diseases would report any problem in the EQ-5D dimensions was calculated and tested relative to that of each of the two reference groups. Multivariable linear regression models were used to investigate factors associated with EQ VAS. Results: The most frequently reported problems involved pain/discomfort (8.8%) and anxiety/depression (7.6%). Nearly half of the respondents who reported problems in any of the five dimensions were chronic patients. Higher EQ VAS scores were associated with the male gender, higher level of education, employment, younger age, an urban area of residence, access to free medical service and higher levels of physical activity. Except for anemia, all the selected chronic diseases were indicative of a negative EQ VAS score. The three leading risk factors were cerebrovascular disease, cancer and mental disease. Increases in age, number of chronic conditions and frequency of physical activity were found to have a gradient effect. Conclusion: The results of the present work add to the volume of knowledge regarding population health status in this area, apart from the known health status using mortality and morbidity data. Medical, policy, social and individual attention should be given to the management of chronic diseases and improvement of HRQoL. Longitudinal studies must be performed to monitor changes in HRQoL and to permit evaluation of the outcomes of chronic disease intervention programs. © 2013 Tan et al.National Nature Science Foundation (No. 8107239

Room-Temperature Routes Toward the Creation of Zinc Oxide Films from Molecular Precursors

The fabrication of “flexible” electronics on plastic substrates with low melting points requires the development of thin-film deposition techniques that operate at low temperatures. This is easily achieved with vacuum- or solution-processed molecular or polymeric semiconductors, but oxide materials remain a significant challenge. Here, we show that zinc oxide (ZnO) can be prepared using only room-temperature processes, with the molecular thin-film precursor zinc phthalocyanine (ZnPc), followed by UV-light treatment in vacuum to elicit degradation of the organic components and transformation of the deposited film to the oxide material. The degradation mechanism was assessed by studying the influence of the atmosphere during the reaction: it was particularly sensitive to the oxygen pressure in the chamber and optimal degradation conditions were established as 3 mbar with 40% oxygen in nitrogen. The morphology of the film remained relatively unchanged during the reaction, but a detailed analysis of its composition using both scanning transmission electron microscopy and secondary ion mass spectrometry revealed that a 40 nm thick layer containing ZnO results from the 100 nm thick precursor after complete reaction. Our methodology represents a simple route for the fabrication of oxides and multilayer structures that can be easily integrated into current molecular thin-film growth setups, without the need for a high-temperature step

Ab initio prediction of Boron compounds arising from Borozene: Structural and electronic properties

Structure and electronic properties of two unusual boron clusters obtained by fusion of borozene rings has been studied by means of first principles calculations, based on the generalized-gradient approximation of the density functional theory, and the semiempirical tight-binding method was used for the transport calculations. The role of disorder has also been considered with single vacancies and substitutional atoms. Results show that the pure boron clusters are topologically planar and characterized by (3c-2e) bonds, which can explain, together with the aromaticity (estimated by means of NICS), the remarkable cohesive energy values obtained. Such feature makes these systems competitive with the most stable boron clusters to date. On the contrary, the introduction of impurities compromises stability and planarity in both cases. The energy gap values indicate that these clusters possess a semiconducting character, while when the larger system is considered, zero-values of the density of states are found exclusively within the HOMO-LUMO gap. Electron transport calculations within the Landauer formalism confirm these indications, showing semiconductor-like low bias differential conductance for these stuctures. Differences and similarities with Carbon clusters are highlighted in the discussion.Comment: 10 pages, 2 tables, 5 figure