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Although the microvascular decompression (MVD) surgery has become an effective remedy for cranial nerve rhizopathies, it is still challengeable and may result in a fatal sequel sometimes. Therefore, the operative skill needs to be further highlighted with emphasis on the safety and a preplan for management of postoperative fatal complications should be established. We retrospectively analyzed 6974 cases of MVD. Postoperatively, 46 patients (0.66 %) presented decline in consciousness with a positive finger-nose test (or failure to be tested) after wake up from the anesthesia, whom were focused on in this study. Their surgical findings and intraoperative manipulation as well as computer tomography (CT) delineation were reviewed in detail. These cases consisted of trigeminal neuralgia in 37 and hemifacial spasm in 9. All these patients underwent an immediate CT scan, which demonstrated cerebellar hemorrhages in 38 and epidural hematomas in 6. A later magnetic resource image delineated cerebral infarctions in basal ganglia in 2. Eventually, 15 (0.2 %) died and 31 survived. Data analysis showed that the mortality is significantly higher in trigeminal cases with cerebellar hematoma and an immediate hematoma evacuation plus ventricular drainage could give the patient more chance of survival ( p < 0.05). It appeared that the cerebellar hemorrhage was the predominant cause contributable to the postoperative consciousness decline, which occurred more often in trigeminal cases. To have a safe MVD, an appropriate surgical technique is the priority. It is very important to create a satisfactory working space before decompression of the cranial nerve root, which is obtained by a patient microdissection of the arachnoids rather than blind retraction of the cerebellum and hotheaded sacrifice of the petrous vein. Once a cerebellar hematoma is confirmed, an emergency surgery should not be hesitated. A prompt evacuation of the hematomas followed by a dual ventricular drainage via both the frontal horns may save the patient. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Toffoli gates are natural elements for the circuit model based quantum computation. We investigate general resource requirements for arbitrary n-qubit Toffoli gate. These resources consist of the nontrivial Clifford gate (CNOT), non-Clifford gate ( T gate), ancillary qubits, and circuit depth. To implement n-qubit Toffoli gates, we consider two cases: only one auxiliary qubit and unlimited auxiliary qubits. The key of the first case is to decompose an n-qubit Toffoli gate into the reduced Toffoli gate modulo phase shift using the Clifford gates and one ancillary qubit. With this construction, it only requires O( n) number of general resources for an n-qubit Toffoli gate. For the second case, an approximate Toffoli gate is constructed to obtain efficient decomposition of a Toffoli gate. The new decomposition can further reduce general resources except auxiliary qubits. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aims: Lipoprotein (a) (Lp(a)), a well-established risk factor for coronary artery diseases (CAD), would also be anticipated to be associated in a similar manner with risk of type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) based on the common soil hypothesis of etiology of T2DM and CAD. Unfortunately, there remains considerable uncertainty regarding the association of Lp(a) with the risk of T2DM. We aimed to examine the association of Lp(a) with T2DM. Methods: Cross-sectional study of 1604 cases and 7983 controls was performed for identifying the association of Lp(a) with T2DM, its possible interactions with risk factors and threshold effects on T2DM. The association of Lp(a) with CAD was also examined and compared within the same study. Results: On a continuous scale, 10 mg/L higher Lp(a) levels were insignificantly associated with a fully adjusted OR of 1.011, 95% CI 0.961-1.063 for T2DM. On a categorical scale, the fully adjusted ORs for T2DM were 0.733 (0.526-1.022), 0.554 (0.387-0.793), 0.848 (0.612-1.176), 0.727 (0.515-1.026), 0.692 (0.488-0.981), 0.696 (0.492-0.985), 0.719 (0.509-1.016), 0.74 (0.523-1.045), 0.809 (0.571-1.146), and 0.99 (0.962-1.019) for decile 2-10 in reference to decile 1. The magnitude of association did not increase with increasing decile ( P for trend test = 0.990). In contrast, higher Lp(a) levels were significantly associated with prevalent CAD on a continuous or categorical scale in a fully adjusted model. No threshold effects were observed in terms of association of Lp(a) with T2DM or with CAD in Lp(a) <50 mg/dL. Conclusions: The current study suggested that there was a lack of association of Lp(a) levels with prevalent T2DM. In contrast, Lp(a) levels were significantly associated with CAD in a dose-responding manner. Our findings provided evidence for differential approaches to higher Lp(a) levels in patients with T2DM or with CAD. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The varying trends of the amount and rate of bainitic transformation with strains at low temperature were investigated through metallography, X-ray diffraction and dilatometry. The results show that deformation at 573 K promotes bainitic transformation, whereas the promotion degree on bainite transformation by ausforming is nonlinear with strains. The amount of bainite in deformed austenite first increases and then decreases with the increase of strains. There exists a maximum value of the promotion effect corresponding to a critical small strain at a low temperature. Bainitic transformation rate can be increased by ausforming at low temperature, whereas a large strain weakens the acceleration effect. The amount of bainite in deformed materials is synthetically depended on the effect of enhanced nucleation and repressed growth. In addition, the volume fraction of retained austenite is not completely consistent with carbon content, indicating that ausforming plays a important role in determining the amount of austenite. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The structural distortion problem of large thin-walled aerospace components has roused much concern on more agile, digitized and cost-efficient precision manufacturing techniques, in particular, designing suitable machining plans according to the real shape of workpieces. To improve the machining accuracy of large thin-walled aerospace components, a methodology of three-dimensional machining allowance modeling and analysis is proposed in this paper. Firstly, the fundamental principles of 3D models matching and alignment between the casting blank and the design part are presented. And by datum transformation from virtual design references to real-world references on casting blanks which are accessible more easily, measuring, positioning and machining the casting blank will be more convenient to realize. Furthermore, the technical character of a large thin-walled aerospace component is considered and a technical framework for 3D machining allowance analysis is given. Finally, the proposed methodology is validated by an experimental study using a typical large thin-walled aerospace component of a hypersonic vehicle. Improvements in accuracy and efficiency performance are realized in comparison with traditional methods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copper is a moderately incompatible chalcophile element. Its behavior is strongly controlled by sulfides. The speciation of sulfur is controlled by oxygen fugacity. Therefore, porphyry Cu deposits are usually oxidized (with oxygen fugacities > ΔFMQ +2) (Mungall 2002; Sun et al. 2015). The problem is that while most of the magmas at convergent margins are highly oxidized, porphyry Cu deposits are very rare, suggesting that high oxygen fugacity alone is not sufficient. Partial melting of mantle peridotite even at very high oxygen fugacities forms arc magmas with initial Cu contents too low to form porphyry Cu deposits directly (Lee et al. 2012; Wilkinson 2013). Here we show that partial melting of subducted young oceanic slabs at high oxygen fugacity (>ΔFMQ +2) may form magmas with initial Cu contents up to >500 ppm, favorable for porphyry mineralization. Pre-enrichment of Cu through sulfide saturation and accumulation is not necessarily beneficial to porphyry Cu mineralization. In contrast, re-melting of porphyritic hydrothermal sulfide associated with iron oxides may have major contributions to porphyry deposits. Thick overriding continental crust reduces the 'leakage' of hydrothermal fluids, thereby promoting porphyry mineralization. Nevertheless, it is also more difficult for ore forming fluids to penetrate the thick continental crust to reach the depths of 2-4 km where porphyry deposits form. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Novel multifunctional materials, the composites AlOOH-NaYFTb5 and AlOOH-NaYFTb10, containing AlO(OH) and β-NaYF:5%Tb, have been synthesized via a facile hydrothermal route and a simple grinding method. The boehmite [AlO(OH)], yttrium nitrate [Y(NO)·6HO], terbium nitrate, [Tb(NO)·6HO], sodium citrate (NaCHO·2HO) and sodium fluoride (NaF) were used as starting materials. The composition, electrorheological (ER) performance, and luminescence property of the functional materials were studied. Our results show that the composites not only have good electrorheological (ER) performance, but also have good optics property. The relative shear stress τ ( τ = τ / τ , τ and τ are the shear stresses at the electric field strength E = 4 and 0 kV/mm, respectively) values of the suspension (25 wt.%) of AlOOHNaYFTb5 material in silicone oil are all larger than 50 in a shear rate ranging from 0.06 to 26 s, the τr value reaches 1333 at a shear rate of 0.06 s. The material with such high ER activity and favorable luminescence performance is advantageous in its application as a multifunctional material. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Most studies in the area of grain refinement have always taken for granted that higher cooling rate results in finer grains. However, when microstructural variation of the as-cast Mg with cooling rate was investigated using a specially designed V-shaped copper mold, the results were different. Although fast cooling during solidification led to microstructural refining in pure Mg, grain coarsening was observed at a higher cooling rate in Mg alloys that were inoculation treated with 1.0wt pctZr and 1.4wt pctCaO, and in the Mg-Al binary alloys. It is considered that the grain coarsening at higher cooling rate was attributed to the smaller constitutional undercooling zone formed at fast cooling due to the high temperature gradient in the three Mg alloys. These results can help in redefining the role of cooling rate in the grain refinement process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this note, we study the Q-cut representation by combining it with BCFW deformation. As a consequence, the one-loop integrand is expressed in terms of a recursion relation, i.e., n-point one-loop integrand is constructed using tree-level amplitudes and m- point one-loop integrands with m ≤ n - 1. By giving explicit examples, we show that the integrand from the recursion relation is equivalent to that from Feynman diagrams or the original Q-cut construction, up to scale free terms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Gold in cyanide tailings from Shandong Province is mainly encapsulated by hematite and magnetite at distribution rates of 76.49 % and 10.88 %, respectively. Chlorination-reduction one-step roasting of cyanide tailings was conducted under the following conditions: calcium chloride dosage of 6 %, bituminous coal dosage of 30 %, calcium oxide dosage of 10 % (all dosages are vs. the mass of cyanide tailings) at 1000 °C of roasting temperature. X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and chemical-phase analysis were performed to investigate the effects of iron phase transformation on the high-temperature chlorination of gold. Results indicate that the lattice structure of hematite undergoes expansion, pulverization, and reorganization when hematite is reduced to magnetite, which leads to 42.03 % gold exposure, and the high-temperature chlorination rate of gold is 41.17 % at the same time. The structure of wustite formed by the reduction in magnetite is porous and loose, and thus 44.02 % of gold is exposed. The high-temperature chlorination rate of gold is increased by 41.98 percentage points. When wustite is reduced to metallic iron, 4.42 % of gold is exposed, and the high-temperature chlorination rate of gold is increased by 3.38 percentage points. Accordingly, the high-temperature chlorination of gold mainly occurs in two stages, in which FeO is reduced to FeO, and FeO is reduced to FeO finally. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Simultaneous thermal analysis (STA) was used to investigate the effects of silicon content on the oxidation kinetics of silicon- containing steels under an atmosphere and heating procedures similar to those used in industrial reheating furnaces for the production of hot-rolled strips. Our results show that when the heating temperature was greater than the melting point of FeSiO, the oxidation rates of steels with different silicon contents were the same; the total mass gain decreased with increasing silicon content, whereas it increased with increasing oxygen content. The oxidation rates for steels with different silicon contents were constant with respect to time under isothermal conditions. In addition, the starting oxidation temperature, the intense oxidation temperature, and the finishing oxidation temperature increased with increasing silicon content; the intense oxidation temperature had no correlation with the melting of FeSiO. Moreover, the silicon distributed in two forms: as FeSiO at the interface between the innermost layer of oxide scale and the iron matrix, and as particles containing silicon in grains and grain boundaries in the iron matrix. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to determine the efficacy and feasibility of surgical management of children with thoracolumbar spine tuberculosis with kyphosis by using one-stage posterior focus debridement, interbody grafts, and posterior instrumentation and fusion. Methods: From October 2010 to September 2013, 21 children with thoracolumbar spinal tuberculosis accompanied by kyphosis were treated with one-stage posterior decompression, interbody grafts, and posterior instrumentation and fusion. There were 13 males and 8 females, aged from 7 to 13 years old (average age 9.9 years). The mean follow-up was 34 months (range26-48 months). Patients were evaluated before and after surgery in terms of ESR, neurologic status, pain, and kyphotic angle. Results: Spinal tuberculosis was completely cured, and the grafted bones were fused in all 21 patients. There was no recurrent tuberculous infection. ESR got normal within 3 months in all patients. The ASIA neurologic classification improved in all cases. Pain relief was obtained in all patients. The average preoperative kyphosis was 29.7° (range 12-42°) and decreased to 5.5° (range 2-10°), postoperatively. There was no significant loss of the correction at the latest follow-up. Conclusions: Our results show that one-stage posterior decompression, interbody grafts, and posterior instrumentation and fusion were an effective treatment for children with thoracolumbar spinal tuberculosis. It is characterized as minimum surgical trauma, good neurologic recovery, good correction of kyphosis, and prevention of progressive kyphosis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hemifacial spasm (HFS) or trigeminal neuralgia (TN) is a kind of hyperactivity disorder of cranial nerves caused by vascular compression. However, sometimes, the disease may arise from nerve damage produced by tumors, which was called as symptomatic HFS/TN. Until now, little is known about the exact mechanism and the necessity of microvascular decompression (MVD) regarding the tumor-induced HFS/TN, which is necessary to be retrospectively analyzed in a considerable sample. Among the 4021 patients who underwent MVD in our department between 2006 and 2014, 44 were finally diagnosed as symptomatic HFS or TN. These patients were focused in this study and their clinical features as well as intraoperative findings and postoperative outcomes were retrospectively investigated. Data analysis exhibited the symptomatic HFS/TN cases accounted for 1.1 % in the study, which were caused by epidermoid in 18 (40.9 %) and meningioma in 15 (34.1 %) followed by neuroma in 7 (15.9 %) as well as aneurysm in 2 (4.5 %) and arteriovenous malformation in 2 (4.5 %). Compared to those with idiopathic HFS/TN, younger females were more susceptible ( p < 0.05). After resection of the neoplasm, the offending vessel was identified in 26 (59.1 %), which were followed by MVD process. Postoperatively, the symptoms relief rate was 88.6 %. Our study showed that surgical management of patients with symptomatic HFS/TN may lead to a satisfactory result, yet those primary lesions should be removed firstly. In some cases, a microvascular decompression process might be unnecessary afterward, but the entire nerve root should be checked to exclude any vessel in contact with. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Aged patients represent a high risk group for acquiring spinal tuberculosis, and it still remains a leading cause of kyphosis and paraplegia in developing nations. Aged patients often combined with cardiovascular and respiratory disease and single lung ventilation via anterior approach surgery could result in more post-operative complications. We aimed to analyze the efficacy and feasibility of surgical management of aged patients with lumbo-sacral spine tuberculosis using one-stage posterior focus debridement, interbody graft using titanium mesh cages, posterior instrumentation, and fusion.Methods: From March 2009 and July 2012, 17 aged patients with lumbo-sacral spinal tuberculosis were treated with one-stage posterior focus debridement, interbody graft using titanium mesh cages, posterior instrumentation, and fusion. There were eight male and nine female with a mean age of 63.3 years (range: 60-71 years). The mean follow-up was 46.5 months (range 38-70 months). Patients were evaluated before and after surgery in terms of ESR, neurological status, visual analog scale (VAS), and lumbosacral angle.Results: Spinal tuberculosis was completely cured and the grafted bones were fused in all 17 patients. There were no recurrent tuberculous infections. ESR became normal within three months in all patients. The ASIA neurological classification and VAS scores improved in all cases. The average preoperative lumbosacral angle was 20.6° (range 18.1°-22.5°) and became 29.4° (range 27.1°-32.5°) at final follow-up.Conclusions: Our results showed that one-stage posterior focus debridement, interbody graft using titanium mesh cages, posterior instrumentation, and fusion was an effective treatment for aged patients with lumbo-sacral spinal tuberculosis. It is characterized with minimum surgical trauma, good pain relief, good neurological recovery, and good reconstruction of the spinal stability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present study investigated the application of echocardiography to evaluation of cardiac dyssynchrony in patients with congestive heart failure (CHF). A total of 348 consecutive CHF patients who were admitted for cardiac resynchronization (CRT) and presented with low ejection fraction (EF) and wide QRS duration were enrolled in this study, along with 388 healthy individuals. Dyssynchrony was assessed based on filling time ratio (FT/RR), left ventricular pre-ejection delay (PED), interventricular mechanical delay (IVMD), longitudinal opposing wall delay (LOWD) and radial septal to posterior wall delay (RSPWD). Response to CRT was defined as a ≥15% increase in EF. The results showed that FT/RR was decreased while PED, IVMD, LOWD and RSPWD were increased in the CHF group compared with the control group ( P<0.01). In the CHF group, FT/RR was negatively correlated with the QRS duration, LV end-diastolic diameter (LVESd), LV end-diastolic volume (LVEDV) and LV end-systolic volume (LVESV) ( P<0.01), but positively with the LVEF ( P<0.01). Additionally, PED, IVMD, LOWD and RSPWD were positively correlated with the QRS duration, LVESd, LVEDV and LVESV ( P<0.01), but negatively with the LVEF ( P<0.01). The CHF group was divided into three subgroups according to the varying degrees of LVEF. FT/RR decreased successively from the LVEF-1 group to the LVEF-2 group to the LVEF-3 group, while the PED, IVMD, LOWD and RSPWD successively increased in the same order ( P<0.01). The CHF group was divided into three subgroups according to the varying degrees of QRS duration, and FT/RR decreased successively in a sequence from the QRS-1 group to the QRS-2 group to the QRS-3 group, while the PED, IVMD, LOWD and RSPWD successively increased in the same order ( P<0.01). Speckle tracking radial dyssynchrony ≥130 ms was predictive of an EF response in patients in QRS-1 group (78% sensitivity, 83% specificity), those in QRS-2 group (83% sensitivity, 77% specificity) and in QRS-3 group (89% sensitivity, 79% specificity). In conclusion, echocardiography is a convenient and sensitive method for evaluating cardiac dyssynchrony in patients with CHF. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The quantum adiabatic evolution is very important for quantum mechanics and applied in quantum information processing to solve the difficult problem. The traditional quantum adiabatic algorithms use the linear interpolating to construct quantum evolution paths. We construct special evolution paths to speedup quantum evolutions. By choosing state-dependent correlations some constant time evolution paths may be generated. This result is very useful quantum adiabatic simulations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The expression of microRNA-19b (miR-19b) in acute necrotizing pancreatitis (ANP) and its functional role in acinar cell necrosis of SD rats were investigated. Twelve SD rats were divided into two groups randomly, including control group and ANP group. The rat ANP models were established by intraperitoneal injection of L-arginine (2400 mg/kg body weight), and equal volume of 0.9% NaCl was injected in the control group. MiRNA chip assay was performed to examine the expression of miRNAs in the pancreas in two different groups. Besides, to further explore the role of miR-19b in ANP in vitro, taurolithocholic acid 3-sulfate disodium salt (TLC-S) (200 μmol/L) was administrated to treat the rat pancreatic acinar cell line, AR42J, for establishing the ANP cells model. The quantitative real-time PCR (qRT-PCR) was adopted to measure the miR-19b expression. Moreover, the mimic miRNA, miRNA antisense oligonucleotide (AMO) and control vector were used to transfect AR42J cells, the expression of miR-19b was confirmed by qRT-PCR and the necrotizing rate of AR42J cells was detected with AO/EB method. The expression of miR-19b was significantly higher in ANP group than in control group as displayed by the miRNA chip assay. Furthermore, after inducing necrosis of AR42J cells in vitro, the expression of miR-19b was significantly increased by 2.51±0.14 times in comparison with the control group. As revealed by qRT-PCR assay, the expression of miR-19b was 5.94±0.95 times higher in the mimic miRNA group than in the control vector group, companied with an obviously increased acinar cell necrotizing rate (50.3%±1.5% vs. 39.6%±2.3%, P<0.05). Moreover, the expression of miR-19b in the miRNA AMO group was 0.38±0.15 times lower than in the control vector group, and the cell necrosis rate was much lower accordingly (23.1%±3.3% vs. 39.6%±2.3%, P<0.05). Besides, there was no significant difference between the control vector cells and the cells without treatment ( P>0.05). The expression of miR-19b was significantly induced in ANP. In addition, up-regulation of miR-19b could promote the necrosis of pancreatic acinar cells and miR-19b deficiency could decrease the rate of pancreatic acinar cell necrosis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To investigate the application and effectiveness of vascular corrosion technique in preparing fetal cardiovascular cast models, 10 normal fetal heart specimens with other congenital disease (control group) and 18 specimens with severe congenital heart disease (case group) from induced abortions were enrolled in this study from March 2013 to June 2015 in our hospital. Cast models were prepared by injecting casting material into vascular lumen to demonstrate real geometries of fetal cardiovascular system. Casting effectiveness was analyzed in terms of local anatomic structures and different anatomical levels (including overall level, atrioventricular and great vascular system, left-sided and right-sided heart), as well as different trimesters of pregnancy. In our study, all specimens were successfully casted. Casting effectiveness analysis of local anatomic structures showed a mean score from 1.90±1.45 to 3.60±0.52, without significant differences between case and control groups in most local anatomic structures except left ventricle, which had a higher score in control group ( P=0.027). Inter-group comparison of casting effectiveness in different anatomical levels showed no significant differences between the two groups. Intra-group comparison also revealed undifferentiated casting effectiveness between atrioventricular and great vascular system, or left-sided and right-sided heart in corresponding group. Third-trimester group had a significantly higher perfusion score in great vascular system than second-trimester group ( P=0.046), while the other anatomical levels displayed no such difference. Vascular corrosion technique can be successfully used in fabrication of fetal cardiovascular cast model. It is also a reliable method to demonstrate three-dimensional anatomy of severe congenital heart disease and normal heart in fetus. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There are many important works about the construction of universal quantum logic gates which are key elements in quantum computation. However, most of them focus on quantum transformations on the same degree of freedom (DOF) of quantum systems. We propose a CNOT gate performed on the polarization DOF and spatial mode DOF of one photon system assisted by a quantum dot in double-side optical microcavities. This hyper CNOT gate is implemented by using spin selective photon reflection from the cavity, without auxiliary spatial modes or polarization modes. This interface can also be used to construct a hyper photonic Bell-state analyzer. The high fidelities of the hyper CNOT gates may be achieved with low side leakage and cavity loss. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

MiRNA expression was determined in both proliferating and differentiated cardiac stem cells (CSCs) through a comprehensive miRNA microarray analysis. We selected miR218 for functional follow-up studies to examine its significance in CSCs. First, we observed that the expression of miR218 was altered in CSCs during differentiation into cardiomyocytes and transfection of an miR218 mimic or miR218 inhibitor affected the myocardial differentiation of CSCs. Furthermore, we observed that a negative regulator of Wnt signaling, sFRP2, was a direct target of miR218 and the protein levels of sFRP2 were increased in cells transfected with the synthetic miR218 inhibitor. In contrast, transfection with the miR218 mimic decreased the expression of sFRP2 and potentiated Wnt signaling. The subsequent down-regulation of sFRP2 by shRNA potentiated Wnt signaling, contributing to a gene expression program that is important for CSC proliferation and cardiac differentiation. Specifically, canonical Wnt signaling induced miR218 transcription. Thus, miR218 and Wnt signaling were coupled through a feed-forward positive feedback loop, forming a biological regulatory circuit. Together, these results provide the first evidence that miR218 plays an important role in CSC proliferation and differentiation through the canonical Wnt signaling pathway. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The thermal simulation experiments on bainitic transformation were conducted on Gleeble 3800. The microstructures of specimens were examined by scanning electron microscopy. The main purpose is to investigate the relationship between the dilatation of specimens and bainitic transformation under stress. Results show that the radial strain cannot represent the real amount of bainitic transformation under stress because the radial strain contains both shear and dilatational components of invariant plane strain. In this case, the volume strain, which eliminates the influence of the shear components, should be used to analyze the amount of bainitic transformation under stress. In addition, the radial strain should not be used for the investigation of the kinetics of bainitic transformation under stress. For bainitic transformation without stress, the radial strain of the specimen can represent the amount of bainite, and can be used for the analysis of the kinetics of bainitic transformation; so it is not necessary to measure the volume strain. The present study clarifies the relationship between dilatation and the bainitic transformation under stress, and provides a useful reference to the analysis of bainitic transformation under stress. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Multipartite entangled state plays a crucial role in quantum applications. We propose theoretical schemes to generate entanglements among several trapped atoms with the help of quantum dots in single-side optical microcavities. In the first scheme, a basic architecture will be built to produce arbitrary N-atom GHZ state by using only one auxiliary photon. Moreover, using a photon state with multiple modes, we can realize $$2^n$$ -atom W state. All these schemes are insensitive to the variation of the atom-photon coupling rates and are also right for remotely trapped atoms by using the photonic transmissions, local quantum operations, and classical channel. Simulations show that our schemes are faithful and available with present physical techniques. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

TiAl alloys with Al contents of 30.7, 37, 46.5, and 54.2 at.% were carburized. Corrosion resistance of the untreated and the carburized TiAl alloys was comparatively analyzed. The phase and microstructure of the carburized TiAl alloys were studied by x-ray diffraction and scanning electron microscopy, respectively. Electrochemical corrosion behavior of the untreated and the carburized TiAl alloys was investigated using potentiodynamic polarization and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy. Experimental results indicate that different Al contents bring about distinct microstructure of the carburized layers. The lower Al content leads to the formation of the thicker binary carbides and the thinner TiAlC phase. Additionally, the lower Al content leads to higher corrosion resistance in the untreated and the carburized states. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

First-principles calculations are performed to simulate the tetragonal multiferroic material PbVO under uniaxial pressure. A first-order tetragonal to cubic structural phase transition takes place under uniaxial pressure of 1.2 GPa, which is accompanied by abruptly changes of the structural parameters, lattice volume, and atomic displacements. Comparative electronic structure calculations are performed for PbVO with the generalised gradient approximation (GGA) and the B3LYP hybrid functional. The hybrid functional drastically improves the band gap of the ground state of PbVO. The GGA and the B3LYP hybrid functional predict contradictory electronic structures for the high pressure cubic phase of PbVO. The results of the B3LYP hybrid functional calculation disprove the metallisation of PbVO under uniaxial pressure. The insulating electronic structure reproduced with B3LYP is consistent with recent experimental observations of semiconducting behaviour for the high pressure cubic phase of PbVO. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The effect of ausforming on the stability of retained austenite in a C-Mn-Si bainitic steel was investigated through metallography, X-ray diffraction and dilatometry. The geometrical relationships of the amount of bainite transformation and the volume fractions of retained austenite with deformation strains were studied. The results show that the degree of promotion of small strains on bainite transformation is nonlinear because of the dual effects of accelerated nucleation and retarded growth caused by ausforming. The transformed bainite fraction first increased and then decreased with increased small strains. It indicates that there is a maximum degree of the promotional function corresponding to a certain small strain at low temperature. Although small strains promote bainite transformation, a larger quantity of retained austenite exists at room temperature due to the suppressed martensite transformation during the cooling process after bainite transformation. The carbon content in retained austenite increases with the amount of baintie transformation, which contributes to the stability of austenite. Compared with the stabilizing effect due to carbon enrichment, mechanical stabilization caused by ausforming has a decisive effect on determining the volume fraction of retained austenite after isothermal bainite transformation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study aimed to examine the optimal conditions of laser-induced interstitial thermotherapy (LITT) via a single-needle delivery system, and the ablation-related pathological and ultrasonic changes. Ultrasound (US)-guided LITT (EchoLaser system) was performed at the output power of 2-4 Wattage (W) for 1-10 min in ex vivo bovine liver. Based on the results of the ex vivo study, the output power of 3 and 4 W with different durations was applied to in vivo rabbit livers ( n=24), and VX2 tumors implanted in the hind limbs of rabbits ( n=24). The ablation area was histologically determined by hematoxylin-eosin (HE) staining. Traditional US and contrast enhanced ultrasound (CEUS) were used to evaluate the treatment outcomes. The results showed: (1) In the bovine liver, ablation disruption was grossly seen, including a strip-like ablation crater, a carbonization zone anteriorly along the fiber tip, and a surrounding gray-white coagulation zone. The coagulation area, 1.2 cm in length and 1.0 cm in width, was formed in the bovine liver subjected to the ablation at 3 W for 5 min and 4 W for 4 min, and it extended slightly with the ablation time. (2) In the rabbit liver, after LITT at 3 W for 3 min and more, the coagulation area with length greater than or equal to 1.2 cm, and width greater than or equal to 1.0 cm, was found. Similar coagulation area was seen in the implanted VX2 carcinoma at 3 W for 5 min. (3) Gross examination of the liver and carcinoma showed three distinct regions: ablation crater/carbonization, coagulation and congestion distributed from the center outwards. (4) Microscopy revealed four zones after LITT, including ablation crater/carbonization, coagulation, edema and congestion from the center outwards. A large area with coagulative necrosis was observed around a vessel in the peripheral area with edema and hyperemia. (5) The size of coagulation was consistent well to the CEUS findings. It was concluded that EchoLaser system at low power can produce a coagulation area larger than 1.0 cm×1.0 cm during a short time period. The real-time US imaging can be used to effectively guide and assess the treatment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Intraventricular hydrodynamics is considered an important component of cardiac function assessment. Vector flow mapping (VFM) is a novel flow visualization method to describe cardiac pathophysiological condition. This study examined use of new VFM and flow field for assessment of left ventricular (LV) systolic hemodynamics in patients with simple hyperthyroidism (HT). Thirty-seven simple HT patients were enrolled as HT group, and 38 gender- and age-matched healthy volunteers as control group. VFM model was used to analyze LV flow field at LV apical long-axis view. The following flow parameters were measured, including peak systolic velocity (Vs), peak systolic flow (Fs), total systolic negative flow (SQ) in LV basal, middle and apical level, velocity gradient from the apex to the aortic valve (ΔV), and velocity according to half distance (V). The velocity vector in the LV cavity, stream line and vortex distribution in the two groups were observed. The results showed that there were no significant differences in the conventional parameters such as left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF), left ventricular end-diastolic diameter (LVEDD) and left atrium diameter (LAD) between HT group and control group ( P>0.05). Compared with the control group, a brighter flow and more vortexes were detected in HT group. Non-uniform distribution occurred in the LV flow field, and the stream lines were discontinuous in HT group. The values of Vs and Fs in three levels, SQ in middle and basal levels, ΔV and V were higher in HT group than in control group ( P<0.01). ΔV was positively correlated with serum free thyroxin (FT4) ( r=0.48, P<0.01). Stepwise multiple regression analysis showed that LVEDD, FT4, and body surface area (BSA) were the influence factors of ΔV. The unstable left ventricular systolic hydrodynamics increased in a compensatory manner in simple HT patients. The present study indicated that VFM may be used for early detection of abnormal ventricle contraction in clinical settings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The effect of rolling geometry on mechanical properties, microstructure, and recrystallization texture of Al-Mg-Si alloys was studied by means of tensile tests, microstructural observations, and electron backscatter diffraction measurements. The results reveal that the elongation and the average plasticity strain ratio ( r) values of the T4P (pre-aging plus natural aging)-treated alloy sheet with a rolling geometry value between 1 and 3 are somewhat higher than those of the T4P-treated sheet with a rolling geometry value between 3 and 6. The deformation and recrystallization microstructures of the sheet with a rolling geometry value between 1 and 3 are more uniform than those of the sheet with a rolling geometry value between 3 and 6. The former also possesses somewhat higher surface quality. H {001}〈110〉 and Goss {110}〈001〉 orientations are the main recrystallization texture components for the former case, whereas the latter case only includes H{001}〈110〉 orientation. Texture gradients are present in the two alloy sheets. Shear texture component F on the surface of the sheet with a rolling geometry value between 3 and 6 and its higher texture gradients have revealed that non-uniform deformation occurred during cold rolling. The effects of texture on the yield strength and r value were also discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study aimed to investigate the effectiveness and safety of lower doses of mifepristone combined with misoprostol for the termination of ultra-early pregnancy. A total of 2500 women with ultra-early pregnancy (amenorrhea ≤ 35 days) were randomly divided into 5 groups with gradually decreased dose of oral mifepristone from 150 to 50 mg followed by 200 µg of oral misoprostol 24 hours later. The primary end point was complete abortion without surgical intervention. Secondary end points were vaginal bleeding, return of menses, and side effects. Rates of complete abortion were high in all groups. Moreover, the lower doses of mifepristone led to shorter vaginal bleeding period, the return of menses on the expected date, and fewer side effects. Lower doses of mifepristone combined with 200 µg of misoprostol are as effective and safe as higher doses of this combination for the termination of ultra-early pregnancy with lower possibility of vaginal bleeding and side effects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The ability to prepare arbitrary quantum state is the holy grail of quantum information technology. Previous schemes focus on circuit complexity using implicit decomposition schemes for global evolutions and are difficult in quantum experiments because the generation circuit can be completed for given coefficients each time. One protocol is firstly proposed in this paper in order to deterministically generate arbitrary four-qubit states with any coefficients. In order to complete this scheme with present physical techniques, we present an explicit quantum circuit with unknown coefficients of prepared states using elementary quantum gates. The key of our scheme is constructing the Cartan KAK decomposition of special transformations in $$SO(4)$$ and $$SO(8)$$ . And then, this protocol is extended to arbitrary five-qubit states and six-qubit states. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The adsorption of a water molecule on the surface of polyhedral oligomeric silsesquioxanes (POSS, (HSiO), n = 4, 6, 8, 10 and 12) with cage structures was studied using the density functional tight-binding method with the inclusion of an empirical dispersion term in total energy. The results revealed that water molecule is favor to adsorb on the ring surfaces which are formed by Si-O-Si bonds of various cage structures. With the increase of the ring size in the same cage, both the adsorption energy and charge transfer increase, while the hydrogen bond length decreases. For all the cage structures, the presence of a single water molecule causes only negligible charge transfer (no more than 0.01 e) from the cages to the water molecule, indicating that the adsorption of a single water molecule has no significant effects on the electronic properties of POSS. Comparing to the large energy gaps (about 8.27-8.63 eV) between the highest occupied molecular orbital and the lowest unoccupied molecular orbital, the water adsorption can only cause slight reductions (within 0.15 eV) in the energy gap. Hence, the energy gap of the systems are primarily determined by the characteristics of POSS, instead of the energy transfer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Vitamin D has important biological functions including modulation of the immune system and anti-cancer effects. There was no conclusive finding of the impact of serum vitamin D level on bladder cancer risk. A systemic review and meta-analysis was performed to assess the impact of serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D level on bladder cancer risk. The pooled relative risk (RR) with 95 % confidence interval (95%CI) was used to assess the impact of serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D level on bladder cancer risk. A total of 89,610 participants and 2238 bladder cancer cases were finally included into the meta-analysis. There was no obvious heterogeneity among those included studies ( I = 0 %). Meta-analysis total included studies which showed that a high serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D level could obviously decrease risk of bladder cancer (RR = 0.75, 95%CI 0.65-0.87, P < 0.001). In addition, the pooled RRs were not significantly changed by excluding any single study. The findings from the meta-analysis suggest an obvious protective effect of vitamin D against bladder cancer. Individuals with higher serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D levels suffer from less risk of subsequent bladder cancer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Three-dimensional post-processing operations on the volume data generated by a series of CT or MR images had important significance on image reading and diagnosis. As a part of the DIOCM standard, WADO service defined how to access DICOM objects on the Web, but it didn't involve three-dimensional post-processing operations on the series images. This paper analyzed the technical features of three-dimensional post-processing operations on the volume data, and then designed and implemented a web service system for three-dimensional post-processing operations of medical images based on the WADO protocol. In order to improve the scalability of the proposed system, the business tasks and calculation operations were separated into two modules. As results, it was proved that the proposed system could support three-dimensional post-processing service of medical images for multiple clients at the same moment, which met the demand of accessing three-dimensional post-processing operations on the volume data on the web. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Grain refinement is known to be strongly affected by the solute in cast alloys. Addition of some solute can reduce grain size considerably while others have a limited effect. This is usually attributed to the constitutional supercooling which is quantified by the growth restriction factor, Q. However, one factor that has not been considered is whether different solutes have differing effects on the thermodynamic driving force for solidification. This paper reveals that addition of solute reduces the driving force for solidification for a given undercooling, and that for a particular Q value, it is reduced more substantially when adding eutectic-forming solutes than peritectic-forming elements. Therefore, compared with the eutectic-forming solutes, addition of peritectic-forming solutes into Al alloys not only possesses a higher initial nucleation rate resulted from the larger thermodynamic driving force for solidification, but also promotes nucleation within the constitutionally supercooled zone during growth. As subsequent nucleation can occur at smaller constitutional supercoolings for peritectic-forming elements, a smaller grain size is thus produced. The very small constitutional supercooling required to trigger subsequent nucleation in alloys containing Ti is considered as a major contributor to its extraordinary grain refining efficiency in cast Al alloys even without the deliberate addition of inoculants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Although microvascular decompression (MVD) surgery has been widely accepted as an effective treatment for hemifacial spasm (HFS), delayed relief cases have been frequently reported. Therefore, the value of an immediate redo MVD should be discussed. Methods: This study included 1,435 HFS patients who underwent MVD with intraoperative abnormal muscle response (AMR) monitoring from 2011 through 2013 at XinHua Hospital. These cases were analyzed retrospectively with emphasis on the postoperative outcomes and introaperative findings. Results: After MVD, 1,384 HFS patients obtained relief immediately. The 51 unrelieved patients underwent AMR monitoring again the next day; this was positive in 48 and negative in 3 patients. These three patients with negative AMR obtained relief spontaneously within a week. Among the 48 positive patients, 31 and 11 were underwent redo MVD within a week and 5-22 months, respectively, and all achieved relief after the second operation. Of the six remainig patients, two obtained relief within 2 months and 4 remained unchanged in the up-to-3-year's follow-up period. In redo MVDs, insufficient decompression of the facial nerve accounted for the failure. Finally, in this database, the immediate postoperative cure rate was 96.4 %; with earlier redo MVD, the final cure rate could be increased to 99.9 %. Conclusions: Despite being a reasonable remedy for HFS in the hands of an experienced neurosurgeon, sometimes small vessels can be missed while managing the main offending arteries during MVDs, which might account for the delayed relief. Therefore, reexamination of the AMR is necessary for unimproved patients; if a positive result is recorded, an immediate redo MVD is suggested. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Previous studies on the association between reproductive factors and brain tumor risk in women have provided inconclusive findings. Thus, an updated meta-analysis was performed to obtain more precise risk estimates for brain tumor regarding several common reproductive factors. A comprehensive literature search for relevant publications in the PubMed and Embase databases was carried out from their inception up to June 20, 2014. Pooled relative risks (RRs) with corresponding 95 % confidence intervals (CIs) were calculated. There were 27 independent studies with a total of 12,129 cases and 1,433,915 controls included into the present meta-analysis. We found that an elevated risk of brain tumors (RR = 1.17, 95 % CI 1.06-1.29, P = 0.002), particularly glioma (RR = 1.33, 95 % CI 1.15-1.54, P < 0.001), was related to older age at menarche. Interestingly, stratified analysis by type of brain tumors showed that the longer duration of breast feeding was associated with the risk of meningioma negatively but glioma positively (for meningioma: RR = 0.76, 95 % CI 0.64-0.91, P = 0.002; for glioma: RR = 1.70, 95 % CI 1.14-2.55, P = 0.010). No significant association was observed when estimating the roles of other reproductive factors including parity, age at first birth, menopausal status, and age at menopause in brain tumorigenesis. Our study suggests that older age at menarche is a risk factor of brain tumors and glioma in particular. Additionally, more studies are warranted to further elucidate roles and mechanisms of common reproductive factors in the risk of brain tumors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Two schemes via different entangled resources as the quantum channel are proposed to realize remote preparation of an arbitrary four-particle $$\chi $$ -state with high success probabilities. To design these protocols, some useful and general measurement bases are constructed, which have no restrictions on the coefficients of the prepared states. It is shown that through a four-particle projective measurement and two-step three-particle projective measurement under the novel sets of mutually orthogonal basis vectors, the original state can be prepared with the probability 50 and 100 %, respectively. And for the first scheme, the special cases of the prepared state that the success probability reaches up to 100 % are discussed by the permutation group. Furthermore, the present schemes are extended to the non-maximally entangled quantum channel, and the classical communication costs are calculated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Quantum hidden problem being one of the most important quantum computation problems has been widely investigated. Our purpose in this paper is to prove the independent or partial independent of the reduced state derived from the quantum query with the oracle implementation. We prove that if without bias on implementation functions the subgroup state is independent of evaluation functions using the group representation. This result is also used to improve the quantum query success probability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this work, novel schemes for joint remote state preparation are presented, which involve N senders and 2 receivers as well as N senders and 3 receivers. The receivers can simultaneously reconstruct different qubit states containing the joint information from all senders. Compared with the protocols proposed by Su et al. (Int J Quantum Inf 10:1250006 (), the information of the prepared states in our schemes is distributed in a different way. Our protocols can be applied not only to states with real parameters but also ones with complex parameters. Moreover, the N-to-2 protocol is suitable for general qubit states besides equatorial states, and the receivers need not to perform any measurements and CNOT gates to reconstruct the states. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A case study is presented of a regional development model for valley economies in the mountain areas of Beijing, China. The nature and framework of the valley economy model are described and the development of the model, which is specific to the mountain areas of Beijing, is analyzed. Five different valley economy models applied in the Beijing mountain areas are compared. The major purpose of the valley economy model is to develop the regional economy, including the selection of appropriate industries, the allocation of industrial space, the establishment of supply chains and the integration of various industries. Pilot experiments using the valley economy model have been conducted in seven counties (districts) in Beijing: Pinggu, Huairou, Changping, Mentougou, and Fangshan districts, and Yanqing and Miyun counties. Five models for developing the Beijing mountain areas have been explored, including: creative cultural industries, characteristic industry clusters, the promotion of large tourist areas, natural scenic tourism and folk cultural tourism. Each model has its own unique features and potential to help in the regional development of mountain areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Previous studies have shown the association of the Cyclin D1 (CCND1) G870A polymorphism with glioma risk, but the findings are inconsistent and inconclusive. To shed some light on the findings across individual studies and acquire a quantitative assessment of this association, we conducted a meta-analysis of all published case-control studies thus far. Four independent studies with a total of 690 cases and 1,014 controls were identified after a systematic search of the PubMed, Embase, Web of Science, and Wanfang databases. The strength of the association between the CCND1 G870A polymorphism and glioma risk was estimated by the pooled odds ratios (ORs) with 95 % confidence intervals (95 %CIs). Subgroup analysis by ethnicity was also performed. Overall, a statistically significant association was found between the CCND1 G870A polymorphism and glioma risk in three genetic models (OR = 1.178, 95 %CI 1.025-1.354, P = 0.021; OR = 1.328, 95 %CI 1.007-1.750, P = 0.045; OR = 1.253, 95 %CI 1.006-1.516, P = 0.044). In subgroup analysis, the pooled ORs suggested that the CCND1 G870A polymorphism was associated with an increased risk of glioma in Caucasians under the heterozygote and dominant genetic models (OR = 1.329, 95 %CI 1.001-1.766, P = 0.049; OR = 1.332, 95 %CI 1.019-1.740, P = 0.036). The meta-analysis suggests that the CCND1 G870A polymorphism is a risk factor for the development of glioma. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Universal quantum logic gates are important elements for a quantum computer. In contrast to previous constructions on one degree of freedom (DOF) of quantum systems, we investigate the possibility of parallel quantum computations dependent on two DOFs of photon systems. We construct deterministic hyper-controlled-not (hyper-CNOT) gates operating on the spatial-mode and the polarization DOFs of two-photon or one-photon systems by exploring the giant optical circular birefringence induced by quantum-dot spins in one-sided optical microcavities. These hyper-CNOT gates show that the quantum states of two DOFs can be viewed as independent qubits without requiring auxiliary DOFs in theory. This result can reduce the quantum resources by half for quantum applications with large qubit systems, such as the quantum Shor algorithm. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The melting temperature, melting enthalpy, and specific heat capacities ( C) of 5′-deoxy-5′-iodo-2′,3′- O-isopropylidene-5-fluorouridine (DIOIPF) were measured using DSC-60 Differential Scanning Calorimetry. The melting temperature and melting enthalpy were obtained to be 453.80 K and 33.22 J g, respectively. The relationship between the specific heat capacity and temperature was obtained to be C/J g K = 2.0261 - 0.0096 T + 2 × 10 T at the temperature range from 320.15 to 430.15 K. The thermal decomposition process was studied by the TG-DTA analyzer. The results showed that the thermal decomposition temperature of DIOIPF was above 487.84 K, and the decomposition process can be divided into three stages: the first stage is the decomposition of impurities, the mass loss in the second stage may be the sublimation of iodine and thermal decomposition process of the side-group CHONF, and the third stage may be the thermal decomposition process of both the groups -CH and -CHOCH-. The obtained thermodynamic basic data are helpful for exploiting new synthetic method, engineering design, and commercial process of DIOIPF. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A difficult problem in quantum network communications is how to efficiently transmit quantum information over large-scale networks with common channels. We propose a solution by developing a quantum encoding approach. Different quantum states are encoded into a coherent superposition state using quantum linear optics. The transmission congestion in the common channel may be avoided by transmitting the superposition state. For further decoding and continued transmission, special phase transformations are applied to incoming quantum states using phase shifters such that decoders can distinguish outgoing quantum states. These phase shifters may be precisely controlled using classical chaos synchronization via additional classical channels. Based on this design and the reduction of multiple-source network under the assumption of restricted maximum-flow, the optimal scheme is proposed for specially quantized multiple-source network. In comparison with previous schemes, our scheme can greatly increase the transmission efficiency. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]