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Mercury (Hg) enrichments in ancient sediments have been used as a proxy of volcanism, especially large igneous province (LIP) eruptions. However, considering the existence of other potential Hg sources besides volcanoes and the diverse factors (e.g., organic matters, clay minerals, sulfide minerals and Fe oxides) that can affect Hg sequestration, there are considerable uncertainties to simply regard sedimentary Hg anomalies as signatures of volcanic activities. Mercury stable isotopes, a promising tool for tracing the origins and transformations of Hg, have been increasingly used for determining the causes of Hg spikes and understanding the geochemical behavior of Hg in the geologic record. To date, lots of researches have applied Hg concentrations and Hg isotopes to identify LIP volcanisms linking with significant geological events such as mass extinctions, ocean anoxic events and other environmental perturbations that mainly occurred in the Phanerozoic. However, the results in previous studies clearly show that not all Hg enrichments are derived from volcanic inputs, which emphasize the need for more caution in using Hg as a fingerprint of volcanism. With a better understanding of Hg isotopes in the future, there will be important implications for Hg isotopes to reconstruct volcanic activities in the rock records and their impacts on biological evolution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: We developed a convolutional neural network (CNN) model to predict treatment outcomes of transforaminal epidural steroid injection (TFESI) for controlling cervical radicular pain due to cervical foraminal stenosis. Methods: We retrospectively recruited 293 patients with cervical TFESI due to cervical radicular pain caused by cervical foraminal stenosis. We obtained a single oblique cervical radiograph from each patient. We cut each oblique cervical radiograph image into a square shape, including the foramen that was targeted for TFESI, the intervertebral disc, the facet joint of the corresponding level with the targeted foramen, and the pedicles of the vertebral bodies just above and below the targeted foramen. Therefore, images including the targeted foramen and structures around the targeted foramen were used as input data. A favorable outcome was defined as a ≥ 50% reduction in the numeric rating scale (NRS) score at 2 months post TFESI compared to the pretreatment NRS score. A poor outcome was defined as a < 50% reduction in the NRS score at 2 months post TFESI vs. the pretreatment score. Results: The area under the curve of our developed model for predicting the treatment outcome of cervical TFESI in patients with cervical foraminal stenosis was 0.823. Conclusion: A CNN model trained using oblique cervical radiographs can be helpful in predicting treatment outcomes after cervical TFESI in patients with cervical foraminal stenosis. If the predictive accuracy is increased, we believe that the deep learning model using cervical radiographs as input data can be easily and widely used in clinics or hospitals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The soft theorem states that scattering amplitude in gauge theory with a soft gauge-boson emission can be factorized into a hard scattering amplitude and a soft factor. In this paper, we present calculations of the soft factor for processes involving two hard colored partons, up to three loops in QCD. To accomplish this, we developed a systematic method for recursively calculating relevant Feynman integrals using the Feynman-Parameter representation. Our results constitute an important ingredient for the subtraction of infrared singularities at N4LO in perturbative QCD. Using the principle of leading transcendentality between QCD and N = 4 super Yang-Mills theory, we determine the soft factor in the latter case to three loops with full-color dependence. As a by-product, we also obtain the finite constant f 2 3 in the Bern-Dixon-Smirnov ansatz analytically, which was previously known numerically only. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Drinking alcohol is cited as a way for men to cope with stress, with most of the research emanating from western countries. However, in the East, limited scientific research has been conducted on the relationship between stress and alcohol consumption. Thus, this study aimed to explore the influence of life stress on alcohol use among Chinese men. Our data were drawn from the 2012 China Family Panel Studies that comprised representative samples of the Chinese population. In total, 15,373 Chinese men participated in this study, and their weekly alcohol intake and life stress were evaluated using computer-assisted personal interviews. It was found that the greater the overall life pressure experienced by the Chinese men, the less likely they were to engage in both general (OR = 0.977) and heavy drinking (OR = 0.975). Although severe life stress that interfered with daily life did not affect general drinking, it had a negative effect on heavy drinking. As for less severe life stresses, feeling down and sad had an inhibitory effect on male general and heavy drinking, and experiencing loneliness had a similar effect on general drinking but no effect on heavy drinking. Further, perceiving unfriendliness from others had no influence on male drinking behavior. Although feeling disliked by others had no effect on male drinking behavior, it had a significant, positive effect on male heavy drinking. This study found that in China, stress did not increase male alcohol consumption, but rather, inhibited it. Alcohol consumption is not a preferred strategy for Chinese men dealing with stress. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The parameterized entanglement monotone, the q-concurrence, is also a reasonable parameterized entanglement measure. By exploring the properties of the q-concurrence with respect to the positive partial transposition and realignment of density matrices, we present tight lower bounds of the q-concurrence for arbitrary q ≥ 2 . Detailed examples are given to show that the bounds are better than the previous ones. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The Cobb angle is a standard measurement to qualify and track the progression of scoliosis. However, the Cobb angle has high inter- and intra-observer variability. Consequently, its measurement varies with vertebrae and may even differ when the same vertebra is measured. Therefore, it is not constant and differs with measurements. This study aimed to develop a deep learning model that automatically measures the Cobb angle. The deep learning model for identifying vertebrae on spine radiographs was developed.The dataset consisted of 297 images that were divided into two subsets for training and validation. Two hundred and twenty-seven images (76.4%) were used to train the model, while 70 images (23.6%) were used as the validation dataset. Absolut error between the measurements by the observer and developed deep learning model and intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC).The average absolute error between the measurements was 1.97° with a standard deviation of 1.57°. In addition, 95.9% of the angles had an absolute error of less than 5°. The ICC was calculated to assess the model's reliability further. The ICC was 0.981, indicating excellent reliability.The authors believe the model will be useful in clinical practice by relieving clinicians of the burden of having to manually compute the Cobb angle. Further studies are needed to enhance the accuracy and versatility of this deep learning model.Methods: The Cobb angle is a standard measurement to qualify and track the progression of scoliosis. However, the Cobb angle has high inter- and intra-observer variability. Consequently, its measurement varies with vertebrae and may even differ when the same vertebra is measured. Therefore, it is not constant and differs with measurements. This study aimed to develop a deep learning model that automatically measures the Cobb angle. The deep learning model for identifying vertebrae on spine radiographs was developed.The dataset consisted of 297 images that were divided into two subsets for training and validation. Two hundred and twenty-seven images (76.4%) were used to train the model, while 70 images (23.6%) were used as the validation dataset. Absolut error between the measurements by the observer and developed deep learning model and intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC).The average absolute error between the measurements was 1.97° with a standard deviation of 1.57°. In addition, 95.9% of the angles had an absolute error of less than 5°. The ICC was calculated to assess the model's reliability further. The ICC was 0.981, indicating excellent reliability.The authors believe the model will be useful in clinical practice by relieving clinicians of the burden of having to manually compute the Cobb angle. Further studies are needed to enhance the accuracy and versatility of this deep learning model.Results: The Cobb angle is a standard measurement to qualify and track the progression of scoliosis. However, the Cobb angle has high inter- and intra-observer variability. Consequently, its measurement varies with vertebrae and may even differ when the same vertebra is measured. Therefore, it is not constant and differs with measurements. This study aimed to develop a deep learning model that automatically measures the Cobb angle. The deep learning model for identifying vertebrae on spine radiographs was developed.The dataset consisted of 297 images that were divided into two subsets for training and validation. Two hundred and twenty-seven images (76.4%) were used to train the model, while 70 images (23.6%) were used as the validation dataset. Absolut error between the measurements by the observer and developed deep learning model and intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC).The average absolute error between the measurements was 1.97° with a standard deviation of 1.57°. In addition, 95.9% of the angles had an absolute error of less than 5°. The ICC was calculated to assess the model's reliability further. The ICC was 0.981, indicating excellent reliability.The authors believe the model will be useful in clinical practice by relieving clinicians of the burden of having to manually compute the Cobb angle. Further studies are needed to enhance the accuracy and versatility of this deep learning model.Conclusions: The Cobb angle is a standard measurement to qualify and track the progression of scoliosis. However, the Cobb angle has high inter- and intra-observer variability. Consequently, its measurement varies with vertebrae and may even differ when the same vertebra is measured. Therefore, it is not constant and differs with measurements. This study aimed to develop a deep learning model that automatically measures the Cobb angle. The deep learning model for identifying vertebrae on spine radiographs was developed.The dataset consisted of 297 images that were divided into two subsets for training and validation. Two hundred and twenty-seven images (76.4%) were used to train the model, while 70 images (23.6%) were used as the validation dataset. Absolut error between the measurements by the observer and developed deep learning model and intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC).The average absolute error between the measurements was 1.97° with a standard deviation of 1.57°. In addition, 95.9% of the angles had an absolute error of less than 5°. The ICC was calculated to assess the model's reliability further. The ICC was 0.981, indicating excellent reliability.The authors believe the model will be useful in clinical practice by relieving clinicians of the burden of having to manually compute the Cobb angle. Further studies are needed to enhance the accuracy and versatility of this deep learning model. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper we calculate analytically the perturbative matching coefficients for unpolarized quark and gluon Transverse-Momentum-Dependent (TMD) Parton Distribution Functions (PDFs) and Fragmentation Functions (FFs) through Next-to-Next-to-Next-to-Leading Order (N3LO) in QCD. The N3LO TMD PDFs are calculated by solving a system of differential equation of Feynman and phase space integrals. The TMD FFs are obtained by analytic continuation from space-like quantities to time-like quantities, taking into account the probability interpretation of TMD PDFs and FFs properly. The coefficient functions for TMD FFs exhibit double logarithmic enhancement at small momentum fraction z. We resum such logarithmic terms to the third order in the expansion of αs. Our results constitute important ingredients for precision determination of TMD PDFs and FFs in current and future experiments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The monogamy of quantum entanglement captures the property of limitation in the distribution of entanglement. Various monogamy relations exist for different entanglement measures that are important in quantum information processing. Our goal in this work is to propose general monogamy inequalities for several entanglement measures on entangled qubit systems. The present results provide a unified model for various entanglement measures including the concurrence, the negativity, the entanglement of formation, Tsallis-q entropy, Rényi-q entropy, and Unified-(q, s) entropy. We then propose tightened monogamy inequalities for multipartite qubit systems and derive upper bounds of aforementioned entanglement measures for multipartite pure state under generalized bipartitions. We finally prove a generic result that most of tripartite high-dimensional entangled pure states have no entanglement monogamy. These results are useful for exploring the entanglement theory, quantum information processing and secure quantum communication. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rotor interturn short circuit (RISC) is a common electrical fault in generators. Investigations about such fault on the rotor vibrations, magnetic field variations, and current/voltage changes have been widely carried out, while the thermal properties of the stator side have been rarely studied. This paper presents a comprehensive study on the stator thermal behavior in synchronous generators under different RISC position and varied power load cases. Such thermal behavior includes not only the core loss, copper loss and temperature variations of the stator, but also the mechanical responses of the stator core due to the unbalanced thermal distribution. The whole work is based on the magnetic flux density (MFD) analysis, the core loss and copper loss calculation. Theoretical analysis, finite element calculation, and experimental study are carried out, respectively, by taking a 5 kV A two-pole prototype generator as the case study. During the analysis, the reinforced excitation performance by the automatic control system of the generator set due to the voltage sag caused by RISC is fully considered. It is shown that RISC will significantly increase the stator temperature due to the reinforced excitation. The farther RISC position away from the big tooth is, the larger temperature/thermal risk will be. Besides, the stator temperature will also enlarge with the increase in power load. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A majority of excitatory synapses in the brain are localized on the dendritic spines. Alterations of spine density and morphology are associated with many neurological diseases. Understanding the molecular mechanisms underlying spine formation is important for understanding these diseases. Kalirin7 (Kal-7) is localized to the postsynaptic side of excitatory synapses in the neurons. Overexpression of Kal-7 causes an increase in spine density whereas knockdown expression of endogenous Kal-7 results in a decrease in spine density in primary cultured cortical neurons. However, the mechanisms underlying Kal-7-mediated spine formation are not entirely clear. Cyclin-dependent kinase 5 (Cdk5) plays a vital role in the formation of spines and synaptic plasticity. Kal-7 is phosphorylated by CDK5 at Thr1590, the unique Cdk5 phosphorylation site in the Kal-7 protein. This study was to explore the role of CDK5-mediated phosphorylation of Kal-7 in spine formation and the underlying mechanisms. Our results showed expression of Kal-7T/D (mimicked phosphorylation), Kal-7T/A mutants (blocked phosphorylation) or wild-type (Wt) Kal-7 caused in a similar increase in spine density, while spine size of Wt Kal-7-expressing cortical neurons was bigger than that in Kal-7 T\A-expressing neurons, but smaller than that in Kal-7T/D-expressing neurons. The fluorescence intensity of NMDA receptor subunit NR2B (GluN2B) staining was stronger along the MAP2 positive dendrites of Kal-7T/D-expressing neurons than that in Kal-7T/A- or Wt Kal-7-expressing neurons. The fluorescence intensity of AMPA receptor subunit GluR1 (GluA1) staining showed the same trend as GluN2B staining. These findings suggest that Cdk5 affects the function of Kal-7 on spine morphology and function via GluN2B and GluA1 receptors during dendritic spine formation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Particle reinforced metal matrix composites have many problems such as complicated preparation process, high production costs, weak interface bonding between the ceramic and metal matrix, uneven distribution of ceramic particles and so on. To solve these problems, the method of "shoot mixing + pressure compositing" (SM-PC) and a mixed regulation model of ceramic particles with molten steel were proposed. In the shoot mixing process, the special designed die casting equipment was used to make the particles with the molten metal mixed in the runner at a certain ejection speed (150 mm·s-1). After the mixture is filled with the mold, the pressure is maintained until the end of solidification. In order to optimize this method to obtain the more uniform particle distribution, the parameters (ejection speed, preheating temperature of particles, the shape and size of runner) in the model were selected for sample preparation. Taking the distribution index of particles as the evaluation criterion, it is concluded that the uniform distribution of particles can be promoted with the increase of ejection velocity, the increase of particle preheating temperature, and the small change of gate size. When the preheating temperature of particles was 1,100 °C, and the shape of the runner was trumpet, the optimal particle distribution composite parts was obtained. Meanwhile, the particles and the matrix achieved strong interface bonding - "Class I interface " under the pressure compositing, even though they're non-wetting. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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]

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]

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]

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 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]

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]

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]

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]

The article focuses on a proposed medical application to retrieve medical images from the picture archiving and communication system (PACS) on mobile devices via the wireless network. It discusses the access restriction to medical images and three-dimensional (3D) visualization results on PACS, the three-tier architecture of the application comprised of the mobile client, proxy server and PACS servers, and finding showing that the application offers acceptable quality of interactive experience.

Diapause is a complex and dynamic process. Chilo suppressalis, an important rice pest in Asia enters facultative diapause as larvae. Our results demonstrated in Yangzhou, China, diapause was initiated between September 4 and 12, 2010. After diapause termination, C. suppressalis remained in quiescence in the field for as long as three months. The average time between collection of field larvae of C. suppressalis and their pupation decreased as the season progressed from fall to next spring. Unexpectedly, the pupated ratio of female to male in the initiation of diapause was 0.22. The abundance of hsp90, hsp70, hsp60 and CsAQP1 all peaked on January 8 or 15, 2011. Nitric oxide (NO) is a secondary messenger that is positively correlated with the diapause of C. suppressalis. Among several geographically separated populations of C. suppressalis, there are no significant differences in the mRNA levels of hsp70, hsp60 or CsAQP1. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The quantum no-cloning theorem and no-deleting theorem may be the most important quantum features for quantum communications or quantum computations. In this paper, we concentrate typical properties of random quantum evolution. We obtain that universal random evolutions change the generic unknown pure states into their orthogonal states approximately. Moreover, typical random evolutions distort the von Neumann entropy with constants. These results are extended to mixed states with a stronger orthogonal preparation ability. These typical characters are very important for quantum information retrieving or various quantum tasks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper is to investigate the rational approximation of the unitary groups. Specially, based on the Household decomposition we prove that the rational unitary subgroup is dense in the complex unitary group. Moreover, its random approximate property is characterized by the natural Harr measure, which can be used to obtain random unitary matrix. Our simulation shows that these results may be applied to approximate quantum computations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we show that some special mixed quantum resource experience the same property of pure entanglement such as Bell state for quantum teleportation. It is shown that one mixed state and three bits of classical communication cost can be used to teleport one unknown qubit compared with two bits via pure resources. The schemes are easily implement with model physical techniques. Moreover, these resources are also optimal and typical for faithfully remotely prepare an arbitrary qubit, two-qubit and three-qubit states with mixed quantum resources. Our schemes are completed as same as those with pure quantum entanglement resources except only 1 bit additional classical communication cost required. The success probability is independent of the form of the mixed resources. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The non-isothermal thermal decomposition of taurine was investigated by means of thermogravimetric analysis (TG) and differential thermal analysis (DTA). The experimental data were treated using Flynn-Wall-Ozawa, Doyle, Kissinger, and Šatava-Šesták methods, respectively. The results show that the non-isothermal thermal decomposition mechanism of taurine is classified as phase boundary reaction, and the mechanism function is the Mampel Power law with n = 1. The forms of both integral and differential for the mechanism function are $$ G(\alpha ) = \alpha $$ and $$ f(\alpha ) = 1 $$, respectively. The activation energy and the pre-exponential factor are 167.88 kJ mol and 1.82 × 10min, respectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The critical merits acquired from quantum computation require running in parallel, which cannot be benefited from previous multi-level extensions and are exact our purposes. In this paper, with qutrit subsystems the general quantum computation further reduces into qutrit gates or its controlled operations. This extension plays parallizable and integrable with same construction independent of the qutrit numbers. The qutrit swapping as its basic operations for controlling can be integrated into quantum computers with present physical techniques. Our generalizations are free of elevating the system spaces, and feasible for the universal computation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Entanglement of high-dimensional multipartite systems plays an important role both in quantum foundation and applications of quantum physics. Inspired by the genuine high-dimensional entanglement (Kraft et al. in Phys Rev Lett 120:060502, 2018), we first propose a new criterion to characterize genuine entangled states in arbitrary finite dimensional systems. We further define two decomposable models by using embedding method for featuring experimentally untrusted parties. We show that the equivalence of local decomposability and embedded decomposability holds under special conditions for entangled pure states. For mixed states, we show the decomposability may be changed in embedded space. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The protocols for joint remote preparation of an arbitrary two-particle pure state from a spatially separated multi-sender to one receiver are presented in this paper. We first consider the situation of two sender and demonstrate a flexible deterministic joint remote state preparation compared with previous probabilistic schemes. And then generalize the protocol to multi-sender and show that by only adding some classical communication the success probability of preparation can be increased to four times. Finally, using a proper positive operator-valued measure instead of usual projective measurement, we present a new scheme via two non-maximally entangled states. It is shown that our schemes are generalizations of the usual standard joint remote state preparation scheme and more suitable for real experiments with requirements of only Pauli operations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The cluster state has its feasibility for universal quantum computations. In this paper, we show that one symmetric cluster state can be used for the teleportation of an arbitrary two-qubit state deterministically. The one takes use of generalized Bell basis measurement while the other is completed using a general projective measurement from constructed orthogonal measurement basis and the Pauli flip measurement. Moreover, this state can also be utilized for remotely preparation of a restricted two qubit state within two different quantum network topologies, the controlled and jointed forms. Finally its capability for dense coding is investigated and shown n+3 classical bits transmissions by sending only n+1 qubits. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The main superiority of the quantum remote preparation over quantum teleportation lies the classical resource saving. This situation may be changed from the following constructions. Our purpose in this paper is to find some special differences between these two quantum tasks besides the classical resource costs. Some novel schemes show that the first one is useful to simultaneously broadcast arbitrary quantum states, while the second one cannot because of the quantum no-cloning theorem. Moreover, these broadcast schemes may be adapted to satisfying the different receivers' requirements or distributing the classical information, which are important in various quantum applications such as the quantum secret distribution or the quantum network communication. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Immeasurability of a quantum state has important consequence in practical implementation of quantum computers. Our purpose is to analyze the efficiency of the entangled output of Pati-Braunstein deleting machine or Wootters-Zurek quantum copying machine as a quantum channel. Interestingly we find that for special values of the input parameter the state does not violate the Bell's inequality. Moreover, we analyze the performances of the entangled output of Pati-Braunstein deleting after the Wootters-Zurek copying machine. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we propose two schemes to remotely split an arbitrary three-qubit state. The χ and a GHZ state are used to construct the quantum channel. One scheme is completed by using the generalized Bell basis measurement of multi-particles. The other scheme is constructed by using the quantum primitives, which are described by the quantum circuit and photon architecture. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Our purpose in this paper, is to show that several senders can jointly prepare a five-qubit Brown-state to a remote receiver. By constructing some useful measurement bases, we first present two schemes to prepare an arbitrary Brown-state with real coefficients or complex coefficients via the same quantum channel. Then, by using the permutation group the success probability is improved. Finally, the present schemes are generalized to multi-sender. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper is to establish a theoretical framework for faithful and deterministic remote state preparation, which is related to the classical Hurwitz theorem. And then based on the new theory various schemes with different characteristics are presented. Moreover, the permutation group and the partially quantum resources have also discussed for faithful schemes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

By using a proper positive operator-valued measure (POVM), we present two new schemes for probabilistic transmission with non-maximally four-particle cluster states. In the first scheme, we demonstrate that two non-maximally four-particle cluster states can be used to realize probabilistically sharing an unknown three-particle GHZ-type state within either distant agent's place. In the second protocol, we demonstrate that a non-maximally four-particle cluster state can be used to teleport an arbitrary unknown multi-particle state in a probabilistic manner with appropriate unitary operations and POVM. Moreover the total success probability of these two schemes are also worked out. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Our purpose in this paper, is to show that several senders can jointly prepare a four-qubit | χ〉-state to a remote receiver. By constructing some useful measurement bases, we first present two schemes to prepare an arbitrary | χ〉-state with real coefficients or complex coefficients via the same quantum channel. Then, by using the permutation group the success probability is improved. Finally, the present schemes are generalized to multi-sender. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A total of 48 water samples were collected from six water treatment plants in Wuhan and analyzed by real-time PCR assay for viral identification of enterovirus (EV), rotavirus group A (RVA), human adenovirus (HAdV) as well as human adenovirus subgroup F (HAdVF) during the period from December 2010 to October 2011. HAdV, HAdVF, and RVA were all positively detected in the samples of source water and treated drinking water. EV could be found in 46 % (11/24) of all the source water samples, but only 21 % (5/24) positive in treated drinking water. The concentrations of these three kinds of enteric viruses detected were as follows: HAdV > RVA > EV. The highest removal rate was EV (97 %), followed by RVA (82 %), HAdV (73 %), and HAdVF (72 %). HAdV and RVA have been abundant in untreated river water and finished water after conventional processes of water treatment plants, while bacterial indicators could not be detected in tap water, which met the standard of China for drinking water bacterial quality. Some factors that could affect the accuracy of qPCR detection are also discussed in this study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: This study was designed to evaluate DNA methylation and the expression of DNA methyltransferases (Dnmt1, Dnmt3a, Dnmt3b and Dnmt3L) in metaphaseII (MII) oocytes and the DNA methylation of pre-implantation embryos during mouse aging to address whether such aging-related changes are associated with decreased reproductive potential in aged mice. Methods: Oocytes (MII) from 6 to 8 weeks old female mice are referred to as the 'young group'; oocytes from the same group that were maintained until 35-40 weeks old are referred to as the 'old group.' The oocytes were fertilized both in vitro and in vivo to obtain embryos. The DNA methylation levels in the oocytes (MII) and pre-implantation embryos were assessed using fluorescence staining. The expression levels of the Dnmt genes in the oocytes (MII) were assessed using Western blotting. Results: The DNA methylation levels in the oocytes and pre-implantation embryos (in vivo and in vitro) decreased significantly during the aging of the mice. The expression levels of all of the examined Dnmt proteins in the old group were lower than young group. Both the cleavage and blastocyst rate were significantly lower in the oocytes of the older mice (69.9 % vs. 80.9 %, P < 0.05; 33.9 % vs. 56.4 %, P < 0.05). The pregnancy rate of the old mice was lower than that of the young mice (46.7 % vs. 100 %, P < 0.05). The stillbirth and fetal malformation rate was significantly higher in the old group than in the young group (17.2 % vs. 2.9 %, P < 0.05). Conclusions: The decreased expression of Dnmt1, Dnmt3a, Dnmt3b and Dnmt3L in oocytes (MII) and the change of genome-wide DNA methylation in oocytes and pre-implantation embryos due to aging may be related to lower reproductive potential in old female mice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we propose one quantum signature scheme with a weak arbitrator to sign classical messages. This scheme can preserve the merits in the original arbitrated scheme with some entanglement resources, and provide a higher efficiency in transmission and reduction the complexity of implementation. The arbitrator is costless and only involved in the disagreement case. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Motivated by some previous joint remote preparation schemes, we first propose some quantum circuits and photon circuits that two senders jointly prepare an arbitrary one-qubit state to a remote receiver via GHZ state. Then, by constructing KAK decomposition of some transformation in SO(4), one quantum circuit is constructed for jointly preparing an arbitrary two-qubit state to the remote receiver. Furthermore, some deterministic schemes of jointly preparing one-qubit and two-qubit states are presented. Besides, the proposed schemes are extended to multi-sender and the partially entangled quantum resources. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Quantum one-way functions play a fundamental role in cryptography because of its necessity for the secure encryption schemes taking into account the quantum computer. In this paper our purpose is to establish a theoretical framework for a candidate of the quantum one-way functions and quantum trapdoor functions based on one-parameter unitary groups. The dynamics of parameterized unitary groups ensure the one-wayness and quantum undistinguishability in different levels, and the physical feasibility are derived from the simultaneous approximation of its infinitesimal generators. Moreover, these special functions are used to construct new cryptosystems-the quantum public-key cryptosystems for encrypting both the classical and quantum information. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we propose a scheme to remotely prepare an arbitrary two-qubit state from one sender to either of two receivers. Two cases of the prepared quantum state, an arbitrary two-qubit state with real coefficients and complex coefficients, are considered. Firstly, one single EPR pair and a GHZ state are used as the quantum channel. Then the present scheme is extended to some partially entangled states as the quantum channel. To design these schemes, some useful and general measurement bases have been constructed. The successful probability and classical communication cost of these schemes are also calculated to weigh the efficiency and cost. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract  The present paper summarizes the results from a long-term experiment setup in 1980 in the Taihu Lake region, China, to address the yield sustainability, the dynamic changes of soil organic carbon (SOC) storage, and soil fertility in the rice–wheat ecosystem. Treatments in three replicates comprising manure-treated and chemical fertilizer-treated groups (two factors), each having seven sub-treatments of different combinations of inorganic nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P), potassium (K), and rice straw, were randomly distributed. Results showed that the treatments of manure (pig manure from 1980 to 1996 and oil rape cake thereafter) N P K (MNPK) and chemical fertilizer N P K (CNPK) produced the highest and the most stable yields for both rice and wheat within the respective fertilizer treatment group. Potassium fertilization was necessary for yield sustainability in the ecosystem. Treatments of straw (as rice straw) N (CRN) and manure straw N (MRN) produced more stable yield of rice but less stable of wheat. It was therefore recommended that straw should be only incorporated during the rice season. SOC contents in all treatments showed increasing trends over the period, even in the control treatment. Predicted SOC in chemical fertilizer-treated plots (mostly yet attainable) ranged from 16 to 18 g C kg−1, indicating the high carbon (C) sequestration potential of the soil as compared to the initial SOC. SOC in manure- or straw-treated plots ranged from 17 to 19 g C kg−1, which had been attained roughly 10 years after the experiment was initiated. Nutrient balance sheet showed that there was P surplus in all P-treated plots and a steady increase in Olsen-P over a 24-year period in 0–15 cm soil, which contributed little to crop yield increases. It was therefore suggested that P fertilization rate should be decreased to 30–40 kg P ha−1 year−1. Comparison of yields among the treatments showed that wheat was more responsive to P fertilizer than rice. Thus P fertilizer should be preferably applied to wheat. Soil pH decrease was significant over the 24-year period and was not correlated with fertilizer treatments. The overall recommendation is to incorporate straw at 4,500 kg ha−1 year−1 during the rice season only, with additional 190 kg N ha−1 year−1, 30–40 kg P ha−1 year−1 mainly during the rice season, and 150–160 kg K ha−1 year−1. Further research on the unusual P supply capacity of the soil is needed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Let G=( V, E) be a simple graph. A subset D⊆ V is a dominating set of G, if for any vertex x ∈ V− D, there exists a vertex y ∈ D such that xy ∈ E. By using the so-called vertex disjoint paths cover introduced by Reed, in this paper we prove that every graph G on n vertices with minimum degree at least five has a dominating set of order at most 5 n/14. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Various thymic peptides (including thymulin, thymic humoral factor, thymopoietin, etc.) play important roles in the process of T cell maturation and development. We isolated a new peptide from calf thymus and named it thymus activity factor II (TAF-II). A yield of 0.92 mg of TAF-II was purified from 500 g calf thymus. Analysis by LC/MSD-Trap showed the amino acid sequence of this hexapeptide to be Glu-Ala-Lys-Ser-Gln-Gly-OH with molecular weight 618.5 daltons. We have also begun to investigate the influence of TAF-II. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: To evaluate the diagnostic performance of contrast-enhanced (CE) ultrasound using Sonazoid (SNZ–CEUS) by comparing with contrast-enhanced computed tomography (CE–CT) and contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging (CE–MRI) for differentiating benign and malignant renal masses. Materials and methods: 306 consecutive patients (from 7 centers) with renal masses (40 benign tumors, 266 malignant tumors) diagnosed by both SNZ–CEUS, CE–CT or CE–MRI were enrolled between September 2020 and February 2021. The examinations were performed within 7 days, but the sequence was not fixed. Histologic results were available for 301 of 306 (98.37%) lesions and 5 lesions were considered benign after at least 2 year follow-up without change in size and image characteristics. The diagnostic performances were evaluated by sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, negative predictive value, and compared by McNemar's test. Results: In the head-to-head comparison, SNZ–CEUS and CE–MRI had comparable sensitivity (95.60 vs. 94.51%, P = 0.997), specificity (65.22 vs. 73.91%, P = 0.752), positive predictive value (91.58 vs. 93.48%) and negative predictive value (78.95 vs. 77.27%); SNZ–CEUS and CE–CT showed similar sensitivity (97.31 vs. 96.24%, P = 0.724); however, SNZ–CEUS had relatively lower than specificity than CE–CT (59.09 vs. 68.18%, P = 0.683). For nodules > 4 cm, CE–MRI demonstrated higher specificity than SNZ–CEUS (90.91 vs. 72.73%, P = 0.617) without compromise the sensitivity. Conclusions: SNZ–CEUS, CE–CT, and CE–MRI demonstrate desirable and comparable sensitivity for the differentiation of renal mass. However, the specificity of all three imaging modalities is not satisfactory. SNZ–CEUS may be a suitable alternative modality for patients with renal dysfunction and those allergic to gadolinium or iodine-based agents. Key Points: This prospective multicenter study demonstrated that the diagnostic performance of SNZ–CEUS was comparable to CE–CT and CE–MRI. The three imaging modalities displayed desirable sensitivity, while the specificity needs to be further improved. CE–MRI may have better specificity than SNZ–CEUS for differentiating renal masses bigger than 4 cm [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Micro-calcium carbonate (MC) and nano-calcium carbonate (NC) have been employed to improve the microstructure and mechanical properties of cement and concrete at ambient temperature. This study focuses on investigating the effect of high temperatures (200°C to 1000°C) on the compressive strength and microstructure of cement paste modified by micro- and nano-calcium carbonate particles. Microstructural analysis was performed using differential thermogravimetric–thermal gravimetric analysis (TG/DTG), mercury intrusion porosimetry (MIP), X-ray powder diffraction (XRD), and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The results showed that NC and MC have a filling effect in the cement matrix. Furthermore, NC and MC act as "nuclei" in promoting the further hydration of unhydrated binder grains under hydrothermal conditions at high temperatures. Below 600°C, the compressive strengths of MC-modified cement paste (MCP) and NC-modified cement paste (NCP) increase with increasing temperature. NCP significantly changes with increasing temperature, and its microstructure remains relatively dense in the temperature range of 200°C to 600°C. Above 600°C, the decomposition of C-S-H (tobermorite) and CaCO3 cause a remarkable deterioration in the microstructure and compressive strength. The residual compressive strength and mass loss are related to the particle size of CaCO3 and the high temperature, and the NCP matrix displays better behavior at high temperatures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]