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Background and purposeNo research currently exists on the role of the accessory parotid gland (APG) in nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC). We thereby aimed to assess the effects of APG on the dosimetry of the parotid glands (PGs) during NPC radiotherapy and evaluate its predictive value for late xerostomia.Material and methodsThe clinical data of 32 NPC patients with radiological evidence of the APG treated at Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hospital between November 2020 and February 2021 were retrospectively reviewed. Clinically approved treatment plans consisted of only the PGs as an organ at risk (OAR) (Plan1), while Plan2 was designed by considering the APG as a single organ at risk (OAR). The APG on Plan1 was delineated, and dose–volume parameters of the PGs alone (PG-only) and of the combined structure (PG+APG) were analyzed in both plans. The association of such dosimetric parameters in Plan1 with xerostomia at 6–9 months post-radiotherapy was further explored.ResultsFifty APGs were found, with a mean volume of 3.3 ± 0.2 ml. Significant differences were found in all dosimetric parameters between Plan1 and Plan2. The mean dose and percentage of OAR volumes receiving more than 30 Gy significantly reduced in Plan1 itself (PG-only vs. PG+APG, 39.55 ± 0.83 Gy vs. 37.71 ± 0.75 Gy, and 62.00 ± 2.00% vs. 57.41 ± 1.56%, respectively; p < 001) and reduced further in Plan2 (PG+APG, 36.40 ± 0.74 Gy, and 55.54 ± 1.61%, respectively; p < 0.001). Three additional patients met the dose constraint in Plan1, which increased to seven in Plan2. With APG included, the predictive power of the dosimetric parameters for xerostomia tended to improve, although no significant differences were observed.ConclusionAPG is anatomically similar to the PGs. Our findings suggest the potential benefits of treating the APG and PGs as a single OAR during radiotherapy (RT) of NPC by improving PG sparing.

Supplemental material, sj-pdf-1-imr-10.1177_03000605211043243 for Alveolar–arterial partial pressure difference as an early predictor for patients with acute paraquat poisoning by Yu-Quan Chen, Yu-Qiang Lin, Wen-Zhong Jiang, Zhi-Qian Yang, Jing Pan, Wei-Wei Liu and Yi-Min Liu in Journal of International Medical Research

Supplemental material, sj-pdf-1-imr-10.1177_03000605211043243 for Alveolar–arterial partial pressure difference as an early predictor for patients with acute paraquat poisoning by Yu-Quan Chen, Yu-Qiang Lin, Wen-Zhong Jiang, Zhi-Qian Yang, Jing Pan, Wei-Wei Liu and Yi-Min Liu in Journal of International Medical Research

For the dark channel prior defogging algorithm, there are problems such as sky region distortion and darkening of the restored image. An optimization method based on parameter α to distinguish between sky and non-sky regions is discussed. First, correct the rough transmittance estimation method for the bright area of the sky. Then, discuss the effectiveness of the distinction between the sky and the sky region by α and tolerance parameter K. Estimate the rough transmittance of the sky and non-sky regions separately. And it is refined by adaptive median filtering and guided filtering. Finally, the atmospheric light values estimated by the quadtree subspace partitioning method and the variogram are respectively substituted into the atmospheric scattering model to compare the advantages and disadvantages of the restored image effect. The Experiments prove that the algorithm in this paper has the advantages of strong robustness, can cope with complex scenes, and maintain the normal color of the sky area after defogging, especially compared with the existing methods. Improved the defogging ability and visual effect.

Quantum discord in any mixture of two bi-qubit arbitrary product states is studied with two different approaches. In the first approach the maximal classical correlations are obtained via numerical computations, while in the second approach they are analytically derived. Quantum correlations captured with both approaches completely coincide, as is in accord with the conclusion of Cen et al. [Phys. Rev. A 83 (2011) 054101]. The symmetry reduction of the concerned states concerning quantum correlations is accomplished. The captured discords are amply analyzed so that some inherent distinct properties are revealed.

Quantum correlations in a family of two-qubit separable classical-quantum correlated states are intensively studied with four different approaches, namely, quantum discord [Phys. Rev. Lett. 88 (2002) 017901], measurement-induced disturbance (MID) [Phys. Rev. A 77 (2008) 022301], ameliorated MID [J. Phys. A: Math. Theor. 44 (2011) 352002] and quantum dissonance [Phys. Rev. Lett. 104 (2010) 080501]. Quantum correlations captured with different approaches are compared and discussed so that their three distinct features are exposed.

Teleportation of a qubit with two partially entangled qubit states linking three nodes as quantum channels is extensively studied via the usual ancilla method. With the method two realization approaches, i.e., the node progression approach and the global accumulation approach, are presented. Their resource consumptions, operation complexities, and efficiencies are evaluated and compared. It is found that the latter approach is better than the former one besides the error is partially self-corrected. The latter approach is further improved so that two merits are resultant. The improved version is compared with a similar protocol [M.Y. Wang and F.L. Yan, Eur. Phys. J. D 54 (2009) 111]. Their merits and additional costs are exposed.

The probabilistic quantum teleportation scheme [Phys. Lett. A 305 (2002) 12] is improved via two seemingly different methods (i.e., the usual ancilla method and the so-called Kraus method), respectively. The essence of the improvements is to fetch a part from the residues so that the success probability is accordingly increased. The two improved versions and a similar protocol proposed by Li et al. [Phys. Rev. A 61 (2000) 034301] are compared mutually and discussed. It is found that they are equally efficient and can reach the success probability threshold determined by the inherent entanglement of the quantum channel.

We study a quantum ring (QR) with four electrons in a perpendicular external magnetic field B by exact diagonalization. The low-lying spectra of the QR as a function of B are obtained. A phase diagram is presented indicating that the angular momentum and the spin of the ground state of the QR may jump when B and/or the radius of the QR vary, and a corresponding analysis is performed. By plotting the density functions of the QR, the ground-state configuration is found to be a regular quadrangle. Furthermore, the features of the ground-state persistent current are revealed.

The simplified four-qubit cluster state (i.e., (|0000 + |0011 + |1100 - |1111)/2) is explored for splitting an arbitrary single-qubit quantum information (QI). Various feasible distributions of the four qubits among the QI sender and receivers for tri-splitting or bi-splitting are found out. For the distribution representations the corresponding splitting schemes and their LOCCs (local operation and classical communication) are presented amply while others are mentioned concisely.

A four-party scheme is put forward for a sender to partition arbitrary single-qubit information among three receivers by utilizing a class of asymmetric four-qubit W state as quantum channels. In the scheme the sender's quantum information can be recovered by the three receivers if and only if they collaborate together. Specifically, they collaborate to perform first two different 2-qubit collective unitary operations and then a single-qubit unitary operation. The scheme is symmetric and (3,3)-threshold with regard to the reconstruction, for any receiver can be assigned to conclusively recover the quantum information with the other two's assistances.

We present a scheme for remotely preparing a state via the controls of many agents in a network. In the scheme, the agents' controls are achieved by utilizing quantum key distribution. Generally, the original state can be restored by the receiver with probability 1/2 if all the agents collaborate. However, for certain type of original states the restoration probability is unit.

In this paper we propose a tripartite scheme for splitting an arbitrary 2-qubit quantum information by using two asymmetric W states as the quantum channel. In the schemem if the two recipients collaborate together, they can deterministically recover the quantum information by performing first a 4-qubit collective unitary operation and then two single-qubit unitary operations. In addition, since the asymmetric W states are employed as the quantum channel, the scheme is robust against decoherence.

A three-party scheme for splitting an arbitrary unknown two-qutrit state is proposed, where two non-maximally-entangled three-qutrit states are taken as the quantum channel among three parties. With the sender's help, if and only if both receivers collaborate together, they can securely share the quantum state in a probabilistic way by introducing an ancilla qutrit and performing appropriate unitary operations. The relation between the success probability and coefficients characterizing the quantum channel is revealed. The security of the present scheme is analyzed and confirmed. Moreover, the generalization of the three-party scheme to more-party case is also sketched.

This paper proposes a scheme for implementing the teleportation of an arbitrary unknown two-atom state by using a cluster state of four identical 2-level atoms as quantum channel in a thermal cavity. The two distinct advantages of the present scheme are: (i) The discrimination of 16 orthonormal cluster states in the standard teleportation protocol is transformed into the discrimination of single-atom states. Consequently, the discrimination difficulty of states is degraded, (ii) The scheme is insensitive to the cavity field state and the cavity decay for the thermal cavity is only virtually excited when atoms interact with it. Thus, the scheme is more feasible.

A tripartite scheme for securely sharing an arbitrary unknown two-qutrit state is proposed, where two generalized Greenberger–Horne–Zeilinger (GHZ) states serve as the quantum channel linking the three legitimate parties. The quantum information (i.e., the arbitrary unknown two-qutrit state) from the sender can be split in such a way that it can be reconstructed deterministically by any agent via a proper unitary operation provided that both agents collaborates together. Moreover, the generalization of the tripartite scheme to more-party case is also outlined.

Recently Xia and Song [Phys. Lett. A 364 (2007) 117] have proposed a controlled quantum secure direct communication (CQSDC) protocol. They claimed that in their protocol only with the help of the controller Charlie, the receiver Alice can successfully extract the secret message from the sender Bob. In this letter, first we will show that within their protocol the controller Charlie's role could have been excluded if it were not for their unreasonable design. We then revise the Xia–Song CQSDC protocol such that its original advantages are retained and the CQSDC can be really realized.

Recently, several similar protocols [J. Opt. B 4 (2002) 380; Phys. Lett. A 316 (2003) 159; Phys. Lett. A 355 (2006) 285; Phys. Lett. A 336 (2005) 317] for remotely preparing a class of multi-qubit states (i.e, α|0...0〉 + β|1...1〉) were proposed, respectively. In this paper, by applying the controlled-not (CNOT) gate, a new simple protocol is proposed for remotely preparing such class of states. Compared to the previous protocols, both classical communication cost and required quantum entanglement in our protocol are remarkably reduced. Moreover, the difficulty of identifying some quantum states in our protocol is also degraded. Hence our protocol is more economical and feasible.

The one-to-multiparty quantum secret sharing scheme [Phys. Rev. A 71 (2005) 044301] proposed recently is extended to a multiparty-to-multiparty case. Furthermore, the continuous variable operations are employed in the extended scheme to replace the specific discrete unitary operations used in the original scheme. The complete randomicity of the continuous variable characterizing the unitary operations can ensure the security of secret sharing. Moreover, the present scheme is compared with the recent similar scheme [Phys. Rev. A 72 (2005) 012304]. It is found that the efficiency of the present scheme is n times of that of the previous one.

Three kinds of films i.e. cross-linked film, grainy film and transparent film, were obtained in the process of plasma polymerization of Octamethylcyclotetrasioxane (D4) under different conditions. From SEM photos, we can see that the cross-linked film has a network form. From XPS spectra, we can see that the content of Si-C bond of the cross-linked film is lower than that of the transparent film, and this result agrees well with the test results of FTIR spectra. This proves that the cleavage of the Si-C bond and C-H bond are the main cleavage in the formation of cross-linked film, whereas the cleavage of the Si-O is the main cleavage in the formation of transparent film. In order to enhance the collision of the reactive particles and investigate the influence of magnetic field on the plasma polymerization, we introduced the magnetic field, as a result, we got the grainy film.

A digital camera measuring system has been used successfully to measure the space fluctuation behaviors of Induced Dielectric Barrier Discharge (IDBD) plasma at atmospheric pressure. The experimental results showed that: (1) The uniformity of electron temperature in space depends on discharge condition and structure of web electrode. For a certain web electrode the higher the discharge voltage is, the more uniform distribution of electron temperature in space will be. For a certain discharge the finer and denser the holes on web electrode are, the more uniform distribution of electron temperature in space will be (2). Digital camera is an available equipment to measure some behaviors of the plasma working at atmospheric pressure.

Some investigation on application of plasma technology in printing industry will be reported. These results show that plasma technology has a good prospect in the field of printing industry.

The problem of memory leakage in Java applications is researched in this paper. Our purpose is to find out the instances where the memory leak appears and to put forward the solutions to avoid it. Although the Garbage Collection (GC) mechanism can be regarded as the special Java function to release objects automatically by the garbage collector, the problem of memory leakage still exists in Java applications frequently. In this paper, the leakage problem is researched from memory mechanism of JVM, and some experiments are done in accordance with the way of memory access in Java. At last, the causes of memory leakage are classified and analyzed, and then the solutions to avoid this problem are proposed.

Objective:To investigate whether single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in the Mn-superoxide dismutase gene (SOD2) underlie the susceptibility to noise-induced hearing loss (NIHL).Methods:Audiometric data from 2400 Chinese Han workers who exposed to occupational noise were analyzed. DNA samples were collected from the 10% most susceptible and the 10% most resistant individuals, and five SNPs (SOD2 rs2842980, rs5746136, rs2758331, rs4880 and rs5746092) were genotyped by Taqman SNP Genotyping Kits. The SNP main effects and interactions between noise exposure and SNP were analyzed using logistic regression. Haplotypes were analyzed by using Haploview software.Results:The CT genotype of rs4880 (SOD2 V16A SNP) was associated with a higher risk of NIHL (covariates-adjusted OR, 2.18; 95% CI, 1.34–3.54,P= 0.002). Haplotype analysis revealed that the frequency of AGCCG at the five SNP loci was significantly higher in the susceptible group (P= 0.020). With AGCTG as the reference, the OR (95% CI) was 2.63 (1.14, 6.06). The rs4880 polymorphisms imposed larger effects when the carriers were exposed to higher levels of noise, indicating the interaction between SNP and noise exposure.Conclusions:Our results suggest that SOD2 V16A SNP in the mitochondrial targeting sequence is associated with noise induced hearing loss in Chinese workers, and this effect was enhanced by higher levels of noise exposure.

A nonlinear discrete-time system model is used for autonomous underwater vehicles (AUV) and the optimal output tracking control (OOTC) is designed. By introducing a sensitivity parameter and expanding around it, the original nonlinear two-point boundary value (TPBV) problem led by the OOTC problem is transformed into a series of linear TPBV problems containing known low-order nonlinear terms. Algorithm of nonlinear expanding terms is obtained and substituting them into the recursion formula of adjoint vector equations, the OOTC law consisting of linear terms and a nonlinear compensation term can be approximately obtained. A simulation example from AUV is employed to test the validity of the presented algorithm.

Using the method presented recently [Phys. Rev. A 77 (2008) 014306; Phys. Lett. A 369 (2007) 377], the transformation operator (TO) is explicitly given for teleporting an arbitrary three-qubit state with a six-qubit channel and Bell-state measurements. A criterion on whether such quantum teleportation can be perfectly realized is educed in terms of TO. Moreover, six instantiations on TO and criterion are concisely shown.