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Glycomacropeptide (GMP) is a bioactive peptide derived from whey protein, consisting of 64 amino acids. It is a phenylalanine-free peptide, making it a beneficial dietary option for individuals dealing with phenylketonuria (PKU). PKU is an inherited metabolic disorder characterized by high levels of phenylalanine in the bloodstream, resulting from a deficiency of phenylalanine dehydrogenase in affected individuals. Consequently, patients with PKU require lifelong adherence to a low-phenylalanine diet, wherein a significant portion of their protein intake is typically sourced from a phenylalanine-free amino acid formula. GMP has several nutritional values, numerous bioactivity properties, and therapeutic effects in various inflammatory disorders. Despite all these features, the purification of GMPis an imperative requirement; however, there are no unique methods for achieving this goal. Traditionally, several methods have been used for GMP purification, such as thermal or acid treatment, alcoholic precipitation, ultrafiltration (UF), gel filtration, andmembrane separation techniques. However, these methods have poor specificity, and the presence of large amounts of impurities can interfere with the analysis of GMP. More efficient and highly specific GMP purification methods need to be developed. In this review, we have highlighted and summarized the current research progress on the major biological features and purification methodologies associated with GMP, as well as providing an extensive overview of the recent developments in using charged UF membranes for GMP purification and the influential factors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Early diagnosis and treatment of chronic pancreatitis (CP) are limited. In this study, St13, a co-chaperone protein, was investigated whether it constituted a novel regulatory target in CP. Meanwhile, we evaluated the value of micro-PET/CT in the early diagnosis of CP.Methods: Data from healthy control individuals and patients with alcoholic CP (ACP) or non-ACP (nACP) were analysed. PRSS1 transgenic mice (PRSS1Tg) were treated with ethanol or caerulein to mimic the development of ACP or nACP, respectively. Pancreatic lipid metabolite profiling was performed in human and PRSS1Tg model mice. The potential functions of St13 were investigated by crossing PRSS1Tg mice with St13-/- mice via immunoprecipitation and lipid metabolomics. Micro-PET/CT was performed to evaluate pancreatic morphology and fibrosis in CP model.Results: The arachidonic acid (AA) pathway ranked the most commonly dysregulated lipid pathway in ACP and nACP in human and mice. Knockout of St13 exacerbated fatty replacement and fibrosis in CP model. Sdf2l1 was identified as a binding partner of St13 as it stabilizes the IRE1α-XBP1s signalling pathway, which regulates COX-2, an important component in AA metabolism. Micro-PET/CT with 68Ga-FAPI-04 was useful for evaluating pancreatic morphology and fibrosis in CP model mice 2 weeks after modelling.Conclusion: St13 is functionally activated in acinar cells and protects against the cellular characteristics of CP by binding Sdf2l1, regulating AA pathway. 68Ga-FAPI-04 PET/CT may be a very valuable approach for the early diagnosis of CP. These findings thus provide novel insights into both diagnosis and treatment of CP. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We present an open-source software package called "Hamiltonian Open Quantum System Toolkit" (HOQST), a collection of tools for the investigation of open quantum system dynamics in Hamiltonian quantum computing, including both quantum annealing and the gate-model of quantum computing. It features the key master equations (MEs) used in the field, suitable for describing the reduced system dynamics of an arbitrary time-dependent Hamiltonian with either weak or strong coupling to infinite-dimensional quantum baths. We present an overview of the theories behind the various MEs and provide examples to illustrate typical workflows in HOQST. We present an example that shows that HOQST can provide order of magnitude speedups compared to "Quantum Toolbox in Python" (QuTiP), for problems with time-dependent Hamiltonians. The package is ready to be deployed on high performance computing (HPC) clusters and is aimed at providing reliable open-system analysis tools for noisy intermediate-scale quantum (NISQ) devices. In quantum computing, simulating continuously evolving open quantum systems is key to describe dynamical processes on noisy quantum devices. Here, the authors present an open-source software package "Hamiltonian Open Quantum System Toolkit" (HOQST) for the simulation of open quantum system dynamics in Hamiltonian quantum computing based on the master equation approach. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Breast cancer is increasing around the globe, including Asia. We aimed to examine the survival and risk of contralateral breast cancer (CBC) in Asian breast cancer patients with BRCA mutations. Methods: A total of 128 breast cancer patients with germline BRCA mutations and 4,754 control breast cancer patients were enrolled. Data on clinical–pathologic characteristics, survival, and CBC were collected from the medical record. The rates of survival and CBC were estimated by Kaplan–Meier method. Results: The mean age of onset in BRCA mutation carriers was significantly younger than control patients (BRCA vs. Non-BRCA: 43.9 vs. 53.2 years old). BRCA mutation carriers had a higher proportion of triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) (52%) than control patients (12%, p < 0.001). The risk of CBC was significantly higher in BRCA mutation patients than in control cases (hazard ratio (HR) = 3.95, 95% CI 2.71–5.75); when stratified by genotype, the HRs (95%CI) were 4.84 (3.00–7.82) for BRCA1 and 3.13 (1.78–5.49) for BRCA2 carriers, respectively. Moreover, BRCA1 mutation patients with triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) as their first breast cancer had the highest risk of CBC (HR = 5.55, 95% CI 3.29–9.34). However, we did not observe any differences in relapse-free survival and overall survival between mutation carriers and control patients. Conclusion: Our study suggest that BRCA patients had a significantly higher risk of developing CBC, particularly for BRCA1 mutation carriers with TNBC as the first breast cancer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: The efficacy and safety of adjunctive magnetic seizure therapy (MST) for patients with schizophrenia are unclear. This systematic review was conducted to examine the efficacy and safety of adjunctive MST for schizophrenia. Methods: Chinese (WanFang and Chinese Journal Net) and English (PubMed, EMBASE, PsycINFO, and the Cochrane Library) databases were systematically searched. Results: Two open-label self-controlled studies (n = 16) were included and analyzed in this review. In these studies, the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS) total scores and Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale (BPRS) total scores significantly decreased from baseline to post-MST (all Ps < 0.05), without serious adverse neurocognitive effects. Mixed findings on the neurocognitive effects of adjunctive MST for schizophrenia were reported in the two studies. A discontinuation rate of treatment of up to 50% (4/8) was reported in both studies. The rate of adverse drug reactions (ADRs) was evaluated in only one study, where the most common ADRs were found to be dizziness (25%, 2/8) and subjective memory loss (12.5%, 1/8). Conclusion: There is inconsistent evidence for MST-related adverse neurocognitive effects and preliminary evidence for the alleviation of psychotic symptoms in schizophrenia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Quantum annealers require accurate control and optimized operation schemes to reduce noise levels, in order to eventually demonstrate a computational advantage over classical algorithms. We study a high coherence four-junction capacitively shunted flux qubit (CSFQ), using dispersive measurements to extract system parameters and model the device. Josephson junction asymmetry inherent to the device causes a deleterious nonlinear cross-talk when annealing the qubit. We implement a nonlinear annealing path to correct the asymmetry in situ, resulting in a substantial increase in the probability of the qubit being in the correct state given an applied flux bias. We also confirm the multi-level structure of our CSFQ circuit model by annealing it through small spectral gaps and observing quantum signatures of energy level crossings. Our results demonstrate an anneal-path correction scheme designed and implemented to improve control accuracy for high-coherence and high-control quantum annealers, which leads to an enhancement of success probability in annealing protocols. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A series of three Mo2 dimers bridged by a meta‐phenylene group has been studied in terms of electronic coupling (EC) and electron transfer (ET) in comparison with the para isomers. Optical analyses on the mixed‐valence complexes indicate that by replacing a para‐phenylene bridge with a meta one, the EC between the two Mo2 centers is dramatically weakened; consequently, the ET rates (ket) are lowered by two to three orders of magnitude. In the para series, the EC parameters (Hab) and ET rates (ket) are greatly affected by O/S atomic alternation of the bridging ligand. However, for the meta analogues, similar EC and ET parameters are obtained, that is, Hab=300–400 cm−1 and ket≈109 s−1. These results suggest that through‐σ‐bond and/or through‐space coupling channels become operative as the π conjugation is disabled. DFT calculations reveal that destructive quantum interference features seen for the meta series arise from the cancellation of two π‐conjugated coupling pathways. Quantum constructive vs. destructive effects: Optical analysis of Mo2 mixed‐valence donor‐bridge‐acceptor systems indicates that a meta phenylene bridge lowers the electron‐transfer rate by two to three orders of magnitude with respect to the para analogues. DFT calculations reveal that the destructive quantum interference features arise from the cancellation of two coupling pathways. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Podocalyxin‐like protein (PODXL), a transmembrane glycoprotein with anti‐adhesive properties, is associated with an aggressive tumor phenotype and poor prognosis of several cancers. To elucidate the biological significance of PODXL and its molecular mechanism in gastric cancer (GC), we investigated the expression of PODXL in GC samples and assessed its effects on biological behaviors and the related signaling pathways in vitro and in vivo. Moreover, the possible and closely interacted partners of PODXL were identified. Our data showed that the protein or mRNA level of PODXL was significantly upregulated in tissues or serum of GC patients compared with normal‐appearing tissues (NAT) or those of healthy volunteers. Overall survival (OS) curves showed that patients with high PODXL levels in tissues or serum had a worse 5‐year OS. In vitro, restoring PODXL expression promoted tumor progression by increasing cell proliferation, colony formation, wound healing, migration and invasion, as well as suppressing the apoptosis. Furthermore, the PI3K/AKT, NF‐κB and MAPK/ERK signaling pathways were activated. There was a significant positive correlation between PODXL and RUN and FYVE domain containing 1 (RUFY1) expression in tissues or serum. Subsequent mass spectrometry analysis, co‐immunoprecipitation assays and western blot analysis identified PODXL/RUFY1 complexes in GC cells, and silencing RUFY1 expression in GC cells significantly attenuated PODXL‐induced phenotypes and their underlying signaling pathways. Our results suggested that PODXL promoted GC progression via a RUFY1‐dependent signaling mechanism. New GC therapeutic opportunities through PODXL and targeting the PODXL/RUFY1 complex might improve cancer therapy. We present evidence for a major role of PODXL and RUFY1 as tumor‐promoting genes during gastric carcinogenesis. We confirmed the presence of the PODXL/RUFY1 complexes in GC cells. PODXL promoted GC progression via a RUFY1‐dependent signaling mechanism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Melanin is synthesized by melanocytes, which are located in the basal layer of the skin. After synthesis, melanin is further deposited on the surface of the skin to form black spots or chloasma. Tyrosinase is a rate-limiting enzyme that plays an important role in melanogenesis. Currently, there are many drugs that inhibit tyrosinase expression to further reduce melanogenesis. Nevertheless, some of these could reverse the pharmacological effect of other drugs, when used simultaneously. Materials and Methods: B16 mouse melanoma cells were treated with the tyrosinase inhibitors licochalcone A and β-arbutin, alone or in combination with capsaicin, an alkaloid found in peppers. Cytotoxicity, melanin content, and tyrosinase activity and expression were determined. Results: Licochalcone A/β-arbutin inhibited tyrosinase expression and further hindered melanin synthesis when applied individually to B16 mouse melanoma cells. However, licochalcone A/β-arbutin combined with 50 µmol/L capsaicin enhanced the expression of tyrosinase in these cells and further increased melanin content. Conclusion: Our data implied that capsaicin could reverse the inhibitory effect of licochalcone A/β-arbutin on tyrosinase expression in B16 mouse melanoma cells. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Eggplant ( Solanum melongena L.) is an edible vegetable cultivated and consumed worldwide. But the production of eggplant is significantly limited by the soil salinization in greenhouse cultivation system. The main ions are Na, Ca, Mg, K, Cl, and SO in the salty soils. Calcineurin B-like proteins (CBLs) are calcium sensors and control the affinities and activities of numerous ion transporters with CBL-interacting protein kinases (CIPKs). In this study, a total of 5 CBL and 15 CIPK genes from eggplant were identified first. The yeast two-hybrid (Y2H) assay and bimolecular fluorescence complementation (BiFC) assay demonstrated the interaction network between SmCBLs and SmCIPKs. Strikingly, some new CBL-CIPK complexes were found which have never been discovered in any other plant species. The expression level of each SmCBL or SmCIPK under 200 mM NaCl, low potassium (LK; 100 μM), high Mg with 20 mM MgCl and MgSO stresses were examined by quantitative real-time PCR (qRT-PCR) assay and these CBL and CIPK genes were found to respond to the four ion stresses differently. Interestingly, the differential expression level of SmCIPK3, - 24 or - 25 to Mg is higher than Na, and Cl is higher than SO. In addition, different magnesium salt can induce different response mechanisms in eggplant. In summary, this study provides insight into the characterization of CBLs and CIPKs in eggplant. It may be used in a novel biotechnological breeding program strategy to create new eggplant cultivars, leading to enhance different ion tolerance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Myeloid‐derived suppressor cells (MDSCs) are a heterogeneous population of early myeloid progenitors, which possess strong immunosuppressive functions. MDSCs are found in increased numbers in infectious and inflammatory pathological conditions. However, whether microRNAs have a role in the expansion remains unclear. Here in our study, we found that overexpression of miR‐34a could induce the expansion of MDSCs in the bone marrow and spleen both in chimera and transgenic mice. And further experiments demonstrated that miR‐34a inhibited the apoptosis through reduced translation of N‐myc without affecting the proliferation. Luciferase assay and western blotting experiments implied that N‐myc is the direct target of miR‐34a in MDSCs. Overexpressed mir‐34a changes the cytokine expression profile in MDSCs and skewed the MDSCs to M1 phenotype. And miR‐34a‐overexpressed MDSCs significantly slowed down the tumor growth. Taken together, miR‐34a contributes to the expansion of MDSCs by inhibiting the apoptosis via suppressing the expression of N‐myc. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Key message: Elevated antioxidant status and positive abiotic stress response in dehydration enhance cell resistance to cryoinjury, and controlling oxidative damage via reactive oxygen species homeostasis maintenance leads to high survival. Abstract: Cryoprotectants are important for cell survival in cryopreservation, but high concentrations can also cause oxidative stress. Adding vitamin C to the cryoprotectant doubled the survival ratio in Arabidopsis thaliana 60-h seedlings (seedlings after 60-h germination) cryopreservation. In this study, the metabolites and transcriptional profiling of 60-h seedlings were analyzed in both the control cryopreservation procedure (CCP) and an improved cryopreservation procedure (ICP) to reveal the mechanism of plant cell response to oxidative stress from cryopreservation. Reactive oxygen species (ROS) and peroxidation levels reached a peak after rapid cooling-warming in CCP, which were higher than that in ICP. In addition, gene regulation was significantly increased in CCP and decreased in ICP during rapid cooling-warming. Before cryogenic treatment, the number of specifically regulated genes was nearly 10 times higher in ICP dehydration than CCP dehydration. Among these genes, DREBs/CBFs were beneficial to cope with cryoinjury, and calcium- binding protein, OXI1, WRKY and MYB family members as key factors in ROS signal transduction activated the ROS-producing and ROS-scavenging networks including AsA-GSH and GPX cycles involved in scavenging HO. Finally, elevated antioxidant status and oxidative stress response in the improved dehydration enhanced seedling resistance to cryogenic treatment, maintained ROS homeostasis and improved cell recovery after cryopreservation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Pancreatic cancer (PC) is one of the most aggressive types of human malignancy, which has an overall 5-year survival rate of <2%. PC is the fourth most common cause of cancer-associated mortality in the western world. At present, there is almost no effective treatment available for the treatment of PC. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the anticancer potential of a polyphenol enriched extract obtained from Salvia chinensis, a Chinese medicinal plant. An MTT assay was used to evaluate the cell viability of five cancer cell lines and one normal cell line. In addition, the effects of the extract on apoptotic induction, cell cycle phase distribution, DNA damage and loss of mitochondrial membrane potential (Ψm) were evaluated in MiapaCa-2 human PC cells. The effects of the extract on cell cycle phase distribution and m were assessed by flow cytometry, using propidium iodide and rhodamine-123 DNA-binding fluorescent dyes, respectively. Fluorescence microscopy, using 4',6-diamidino-2-phenylindole as a staining agent, was performed in order to detect the morphological changes of the MiapaCa-2 cancer cells and the presence of apoptotic bodies following treatment with the extract. The results of the present study demonstrated that the polyphenol-rich extract from S. chinensis induced potent cytotoxicity in the MCF-7 human breast cancer cells, A549 human lung cancer cells, HCT-116 and COLO 205 human colon cancer cells, and MiapaCa-2 human PC cells. The COLO 205 and MCF-7 cancer cell lines were the most susceptible to treatment with the extract, which exhibited increased rate of growth inhibition. Fluorescence microscopy revealed characteristic morphological features of apoptosis and detected the appearance of apoptotic bodies following treatment with the extract in the PC cells. Flow cytometric analysis demonstrated that the extract induced G0/G1 cell cycle arrest in a dose-dependent manner. In addition, treatment with the extract induced a significant and concentration-dependent reduction in the Ψm of the PC cells. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To explore the correlation between epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) mutation status and the risk of brain metastasis (BM) in patients with lung adenocarcinoma, the clinical data of 100 patients with pathologically confirmed lung adenocarcinoma and known EGFR mutation status at exon 18, 19, 20, or 21 were analyzed retrospectively. The incidence of BM was similar between patients with wild-type EGFR and those with EGFR mutations (p = 0.48). However, among patients with EGFR mutations, the incidence of BM was significantly higher in patients with mutation at exon 19 than in patients with mutation at other sites (p = 0.007). Besides, among patients with heterochronous BM, 66.7 % had EGFR mutations. Regarding brain-metastasis-free survival (BMFS), patients with EGFR sensitive mutations (mutation at exon 19/21/and dual mutation) had significantly shorter BMFS compared with patients with wild-type EGFR (p = 0.018). For patients treated only with chemotherapy, BM was an unfavorable prognostic factor. Patients with BM had worse overall survival compared with those without BM (p = 0.035). However, in patients with BM and EGFR sensitive mutations, those treated with tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs) had significantly longer overall survival compared with those treated with chemotherapy only (p = 0.0081). In conclusion, among patients with EGFR mutations, those mutated at exon 19 had the highest incidence of BM. Furthermore, patients with EGFR mutations are more likely to develop heterochronous BM. The BMFS was significantly shorter in patients with EGFR sensitive mutations. TKIs improved the survival of patients with lung adenocarcinoma and BM who harbored EGFR sensitive mutations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

PrMn2O5 nanorods with five axial ( \langle LC\rangle ) \times radial lengths of 63 nm \times 25 nm, 150 nm \times 25 nm, 152 nm \times 29 nm, 259 nm \times 86 nm, and 262 nm ) and ICAFM-to-commensurate antiferromagnetic ( T_{N'} ) ordering at 43 and 20 K, respectively, in the samples with \langle L_{C}\rangle \le 259 nm. At \langle LC\rangle =262 nm, both TN and TN' are shifted to higher temperatures and the samples exhibit magnetic correlation from 150 K. Experimentally obtained M – H curves demonstrate that only the sample with \langle LC\rangle =262 nm exhibits a hysteresis loop. Raman spectra obtained at various temperatures reveal that in only the sample with \langle LC\rangle =262 nm does the Ag+ B1g mode exhibit a large Raman shift until the sample is cooled to 150 K. The distinctiveness of the \langle LC\rangle =262 nm sample arises from annealing. This treatment reduces the barrier to magnetic ordering that is caused by defects and promotes spin-phonon coupling at high temperatures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article briefly summarized research-oriented practice teaching ideas, construction and implementations of the nearly five years ' teaching system at the School of Agriculture and Biology of Shanghai Jiao Tong University ( SJTU ). The authors started by arousing and cultivating students ' interest in studying agricultural science when considering top-level design of practical teaching system and cultivated students ' innovative spirit by launching entrepreneurship pulpit, freshman seminar, and advanced research platform in a comprehensive university surrounding. Furthermore, the authors initiated the teaching methods of putting teaching into research, promoted science research through teaching, enriched teaching contents through research results, and encouraged teachers to transfer research results into practice programs. Up to now, 20 specialized experimental projcts have been listed in the educational reform projects of SJTU and applied into students' practical skiils as well. Besides thesis projects, teachers' research facilities have supported 312 innovative projects, with 670 students' participation. And meanwhile utilized verified experiments to make students truly believe science when designing curriculum system. By establishing comprehensive and open experiments to develop students ' exploring ability, for the moment the class hours of comprehensive experiments and self-designed experiments in the School of Agriculture and Biology account for 78% of afl experimental time. It shows that carrying out research-oriented practice teaching is effective for cultivating innovative talents. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Algebraic specifications have been used in the testing of object-oriented programs and received much attention since the 1990s. It is generally believed that class-level testing based on algebraic specifications involves two independent aspects: the testing of equivalent and nonequivalent ground terms. Researchers have cited intuitive examples to illustrate the philosophy that even if an implementation satisfies all the requirements specified by the equivalence of ground terms, it may still fail to satisfy some of the requirements specified by the nonequivalence of ground terms. Thus, both the testing of equivalent ground terms and the testing of nonequivalent ground terms have been considered as significant and cannot replace each other. In this paper, we present an innovative finding that, given any canonical specification of a class with proper imports, a complete implementation satisfies all the observationally equivalent ground terms if and only if it satisfies all the observationally nonequivalent ground terms. As a result, these two aspects of software testing cover each other and can therefore replace each other. These findings provide a deeper understanding of software testing based on algebraic specifications, rendering the theory more elegant and complete. We also highlight a couple of important practical implications of our theoretical results. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This study discusses ink-jet printing of nylon fabric with reactive dyestuff. Specifically, this paper investigates the impact of the concentration levels of pretreatment paste on fabric permeability, and examines the influence of various acid agents, hygroscopic agents and different processing conditions on colour yield. Results show that ink-jet printing displayed excellent wet fastness in repeated wash testing. This study used four reactive dyestuffs, cyan, magenta, yellow and black, all of which achieved both wash fastness and crock fastness of grade 4. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A numerical approach is presented to evaluate the acoustic nearfield of cylindrical vibrators with specified harmonic radial velocity distributions. The approach is based on the use of a combined Green's function and FFT method. The acoustic field is first represented in terms of a Fourier transform of the specified radial velocity. A normalized axial power density at the surface of the vibrator is then introduced. This quantity provides a useful measure of the local power transfer into the fluid per unit length of the vibrator. The resulting spectral representation of the acoustic field and power density can be rapidly evaluated via the use of FFT methods to obtain the spatial characteristics of the acoustic field and the local power transfer into the fluid. Numerical results are presented to illustrate the spatial characteristics of the acoustic fields and power density of finite length vibrators with axisymmetric and nonaxisymmetric distributions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A numerical approach is presented to evaluate the acoustic nearfield of cylindrical vibrators with specified harmonic radial velocity distributions. The approach is based on the use of a combined Green's function and FFT method. Numerical results are presented to illustrate the spatial characteristics of the acoustic fields and power density of finite length vibrators with axisymmetric and nonaxisymmetric distributions.

A new representation for the time-dependent surface pressure on a fluid-loaded shell of revolution with a prescribed space and time-dependent axisymmetric velocity distribution is presented. This representation, which is based on expanding the surface traction and velocity vectors into in-vacuo modal vector expansions with time-dependent coefficients, results in each time-dependent modal pressure coefficient being expressed as a sum of temporal convolution integrals which involve time-dependent modal radiation impulse responses and modal velocities. After presenting the formulation of the appropriate initial-boundary value problem, Fourier transform methods are introduced to obtain the corresponding Neumann boundary value problem. The solution of this latter problem is formulated as a minimum mean square error problem in which linear monopole harmonic distributions along the axis of the shell are introduced to determine the surface pressures resulting from the normal components of the modal vectors of interest. Singular value decomposition methods are then used to determine the harmonic monopole distributions. Modal decomposition and inverse Fourier transform methods are then used to evaluate the time-dependent modal radiation impulse responses. Numerical results are presented for the self and mutual modal radiation impulse responses for both spherical and spheroidal shells. © 1996 Acoustical Society of America. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A new method is presented to evaluate the acoustic transient radiation from fluid-loaded shells of revolution which are excited by axisymmetric mechanical or acoustical excitations. This method is based on the use of an in-vacuo modal vector (eigenvector) expansion with time-dependent coefficients to describe the velocity field of the fluid-loaded shell. Modal acoustic impulse responses which account for the coupling between the in-vacuo modal vectors for the fluid-loaded shell are introduced in the formulation of the general solution. The time-dependent modal velocity coefficients are expressed as the solution of a set of coupled convolution integral equations which are readily solved by marching forward in time. The associated time-dependent surface pressure is subsequently expressed as a modal vector expansion in which the time-dependent coefficients are readily related to the modal velocity coefficients. Since the surface velocity and pressure are then known, the time-dependent pressures in the field are simply obtained via quadrature methods from the space-time Kirchhoff integral solution. The special case of a fluid-loaded spherical shell is addressed to illustrate the application of the method to determine the general characteristics of the transient velocity response of the shell and the associated pressure field resulting from axisymmetric mechanical force excitations of spherical shells. Numerical results are presented to illustrate the effects on the velocity response and pressure field of time-dependent fluid coupling between the modal vectors corresponding to the upper and lower branches of the in-vacuo frequency spectrum of the spherical shell. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Acoustic axisymmetric harmonic radiation and scattering from fluid-loaded shells of revolution is addressed in the present paper using an in-vacuo modal vector expansion for the velocity field of the shell. The in-vacuo modal vectors for a specific shell are obtained via the use of finite element methods. As a result of the fluid loading the in-vacuo modes of the shell become coupled; hence, the modal velocity coefficients are described by a coupled set of algebraic equations which include mode-dependent mechanical impedances for the shell and mode-dependent acoustic radiation impedances for the fluid. The mode-dependent acoustic radiation impedances are obtained via the use of an internal monopole source density method. This method eliminates the need to use surface integral equation methods with their inherent problems to evaluate the acoustic radiation impedances. Extensive numerical results are presented for spheroidal and spherical shells. In-vacuo mode shapes and natural frequencies are first presented and then used to obtain the associated acoustic radiation impedances. Finally, the response of fluid-loaded point excited spherical and spheroidal shells are presented and discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An internal source density method is presented to evaluate the surface pressures and hence the fluid loading on a harmonically vibrating shell of revolution. The normal velocity of the shell is specified to be axisymmetric and harmonic. After expressing the normal velocity of the shell in terms of a modal vector expansion, the radial component of the modal vectors is used to define acoustic modal radiation impedances. In order to evaluate the surface pressures and acoustic radiation impedances, an unknown linear monopole source density is positioned along the axis of the shell. The normal components of the specified modal velocities are subsequently used to determine the monopole source distribution via a set of coupled linear algebraic equations. Extensive numerical results are presented to illustrate the spatial and frequency characteristics of the source density for both spherical and spheroidal shells. Numerical results for the modal acoustic radiation impedances for spherical and spheroidal shells are also presented and discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article focuses on acute generalized exanthematous pustulosis (AGEP) caused by docetaxel, which is commonly used in treating ovary, breast, and lung cancers. It states that reports reveal various side effects of docetaxel including myelosuppression, peripheral neuropathy, and fluid retention. It relates the development of generalized erythema with multiple pustules and fever in a 54-year-old woman who was treated with docetaxel after radical mastectomy for her breast cancer.

The novel dinuclear Zn(ii) complex (1) containing a β-CD dimer could accelerate BNPP (a DNA substitute) hydrolysis more efficiently than catalyze HPNP (a RNA substitute) transesterification with different mechanisms involved; the β-CDs played remarkably different roles. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The novel dinuclear Zn(ii) complex (1) containing a β-CD dimer could accelerate BNPP (a DNA substitute) hydrolysis more efficiently than catalyze HPNP (a RNA substitute) transesterification with different mechanisms involved; the β-CDs played remarkably different roles. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An amendment to this paper has been published and can be accessed via a link at the top of the paper. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We formulate and analyze a double-slit proposal for quantum annealing, which involves observing the probability of finding a two-level system (TLS) undergoing evolution from a transverse to a longitudinal field in the ground state at the final time tf. We demonstrate that for annealing schedules involving two consecutive diabatic transitions, an interference effect is generated akin to a double-slit experiment. The observation of oscillations in the ground state probability as a function of tf (before the adiabatic limit sets in) then constitutes a sensitive test of coherence between energy eigenstates. This is further illustrated by analyzing the effect of coupling the TLS to a thermal bath: increasing either the bath temperature or the coupling strength results in a damping of these oscillations. The theoretical tools we introduce significantly simplify the analysis of the generalized Landau-Zener problem. Furthermore, our analysis connects quantum annealing algorithms exhibiting speedups via the mechanism of coherent diabatic transitions to near-term experiments with quantum annealing hardware. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The original version of this Article contained errors in the symbols displayed in the eighteenth sentence of the third paragraph of the 'Determination of Hab and kET data for the Mo2 dimers' section of the Results, and the third sentence of the Discussion. This has been corrected in both the PDF and HTML versions of the Article. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]