Charles University in Prague

About: Charles University in Prague is a education organization based out in Prague, Czechia. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Population & Large Hadron Collider. The organization has 32392 authors who have published 74435 publications receiving 1804208 citations.

Energy loss and flow of heavy quarks in Au+Au collisions at sNN=200GeV

Abstract: The PHENIX experiment at the BNL Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC) has measured electrons with 0.3 < p(T) < 9 GeV/c at midrapidity (y < 0.35) from heavy-flavor (charm and bottom) decays in Au + Au collisions at root s(NN) = 200 GeV. The nuclear modification factor R-AA relative to p + p collisions shows a strong suppression in central Au + Au collisions, indicating substantial energy loss of heavy quarks in the medium produced at RHIC energies. A large azimuthal anisotropy v(2) with respect to the reaction plane is observed for 0.5 < p(T) < 5 GeV/c indicating substantial heavy-flavor elliptic flow. Both R-AA and v(2) show a p(T) dependence different from those of neutral pions. A comparison to transport models which simultaneously describe R-AA(p(T)) and v(2)(p(T)) suggests that the viscosity to entropy density ratio is close to the conjectured quantum lower bound, i.e., near a perfect fluid.

Statistical analysis strategies for association studies involving rare variants

Abstract: The limitations of genome-wide association (GWA) studies that focus on the phenotypic influence of common genetic variants have motivated human geneticists to consider the contribution of rare variants to phenotypic expression. The increasing availability of high-throughput sequencing technologies has enabled studies of rare variants but these methods will not be sufficient for their success as appropriate analytical methods are also needed. We consider data analysis approaches to testing associations between a phenotype and collections of rare variants in a defined genomic region or set of regions. Ultimately, although a wide variety of analytical approaches exist, more work is needed to refine them and determine their properties and power in different contexts.

Multi-ancestry genome-wide association study of 21,000 cases and 95,000 controls identifies new risk loci for atopic dermatitis

Abstract: Genetic association studies have identified 21 loci associated with atopic dermatitis risk predominantly in populations of European ancestry. To identify further susceptibility loci for this common, complex skin disease, we performed a meta-analysis of >15 million genetic variants in 21,399 cases and 95,464 controls from populations of European, African, Japanese and Latino ancestry, followed by replication in 32,059 cases and 228,628 controls from 18 studies. We identified ten new risk loci, bringing the total number of known atopic dermatitis risk loci to 31 (with new secondary signals at four of these loci). Notably, the new loci include candidate genes with roles in the regulation of innate host defenses and T cell function, underscoring the important contribution of (auto)immune mechanisms to atopic dermatitis pathogenesis.

Gadolinium(III) complexes as MRI contrast agents: ligand design and properties of the complexes

Abstract: Magnetic resonance imaging is a commonly used diagnostic method in medicinal practice as well as in biological and preclinical research. Contrast agents (CAs), which are often applied are mostly based on Gd(III) complexes. In this paper, the ligand types and structures of their complexes on one side and a set of the physico-chemical parameters governing properties of the CAs on the other side are discussed. The solid-state structures of lanthanide(III) complexes of open-chain and macrocyclic ligands and their structural features are compared. Examples of tuning of ligand structures to alter the relaxometric properties of gadolinium(III) complexes as a number of coordinated water molecules, their residence time (exchange rate) or reorientation time of the complexes are given. Influence of the structural changes of the ligands on thermodynamic stability and kinetic inertness/lability of their lanthanide(III) complexes is discussed.