Discovery of charge density wave order in 3D metallic U₂Ti

We consider thermodynamic, transport and x-ray diffraction measurements supporting the formation of a previously unidentified charge density wave (CDW) phase of U₂Ti. The CDW is incommensurate, forming at 71 K, and undergoes a commensurate transition at 46 K. This doubles the unit cell along the hexagonal c-axis in a Peierls-like transition as predicted from DFT calculations [1]. This is compared to the unusual CDW in α-U and motivates U₂Ti as a simpler system to explore 3D metallic CDW formation.   Additionally, our measurements suggest that U₂Ti is not bulk superconductor at ambient pressure in contrast to a previous study [2].

[1] Kaur, G., Jaya, S. M., & Panigrahi, B. K. (2018). Phonon instability and charge density wave in U2Ti. Journal of Alloys and Compounds, 730, 36-41.

[2] Maple, M. B., Torikachvili, M. S., Rossel, C., Chen, J. W., & Hake, R. R. (1985). Four new uranium compound superconductors. Physica B+ C, 135(1-3), 430-433.

Investigating the role of SMC proteins and CTCF in gene expression by HiP-HoP simulations of degron experiments

The three-dimensional organization of chromatin within the nucleus is highly interconnected with gene expression and crucial for cell function. It has been observed that SMC complexes play a key role in organizing the genome. Indeed, cohesin is able to extrude loops that stop at convergent occupied CTCF binding sites. However, the effect of cohesin and other loop extrusion regulatory factors on the transcriptional regulatory network of the cell has not yet been completely understood. 

In this work, we used simulations to investigate the roles played by loop extrusion driven by SMC proteins and regulatory factors such as CTCF and WAPL in shaping chromatin architecture. We also studied their effects on gene expression on a chromosomal scale. To obtain the results, we employed the highly predictive heteromorphic polymer (HiP-HoP) framework, which integrates polymer physics with bioinformatic data, to predict the effect of degrading each of these proteins in turn. 

Consistently with previous experimental results, we observe that the average transcriptional activity is not strongly impacted by loop extrusion by SMC proteins. Strikingly, the transcriptional noise (measuring the variability of gene expression in the cell population) is instead strongly affected by the removal of these regulatory factors. From our simulations, we are also able to relate these changes in the transcriptional pattern to the ones in 3D chromosomal and gene structure. 

The role of pH in detection of bacterial biofilms

The Effect of Coagulation on Drying Blood Droplets

Blood is a mixture of biological colloids and polymers, the drying of which has been examined for some time. These experiments have all used anticoagulants such as EDTA and tri-sodium citrate to extend the lifetime and transportability of the blood by preventing coagulation, making it easier to perform laboratory experiments. While experiments using anticoagulated blood produce useful information for personalised medicine, they may be of limited relevance for the typical crime scene. To extend the usefulness of blood droplet research to real-life crime scenes where coagulation naturally occurs, this research explores the viability of reintroducing a coagulation-like process to samples containing anticoagulant via the addition of calcium chloride in order to examine how the process affects a change in droplet evaporation.