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The Wigner D-matrix is essential in the course of angular momentum techniques. We here derive the new even- and odd-orthogonality properties of the Wigner D-matrix which was yet to be demonstrated in textbooks and also apply them to identifying optimal measurements for linear phase estimation based on two-mode optical interferometry with two specific quantum states., 16 pages,2 figures

The oxygen reduction electrocatalysis is a key reaction for energy technologies such as fuel cells and air breathing batteries for which development of stable and efficient electrocatalysts remains a substantial challenge, especially when excluding precious metals. Multi-component metal oxides are complex materials that offer opportunities for catalyst development and challenges for prediction of optimal compositions. We use high throughput synthesis and electrochemistry to explore metal oxide electrocatalysts containing 1 to 4 of the elements Mg, Ca, Mn, Fe, Ni, Y, In, and La. Mining the resulting dataset of 7798 unique metal oxide compositions guides additional activity and stability experiments that reveal multiple avenues for further catalyst development based on (i) stabilization of Mn through incorporation in Mn-Ni–Fe oxides, (ii) discovery of Ni–Fe-La oxide electrocatalysts with excellent stability, and (iii) discovery of Mn-Ni–Fe-La oxide electrocatalysts that optimize activity while retaining excellent operational stability.

Crystal-structure phase mapping is a core, long-standing challenge in materials science that requires identifying crystal phases, or mixtures thereof, in X-ray diffraction measurements of synthesized materials. Phase mapping algorithms have been developed that excel at solving systems with up to several unique phase mixtures, where each phase has a readily distinguishable diffraction pattern. However, phase mapping is often beyond materials scientists’ capabilities and also poses challenges to state-of-the-art algorithms due to complexities such as the existence of dozens of phase mixtures, alloy-dependent variation in the diffraction patterns and multiple compositional degrees of freedom, creating a major bottleneck in high-throughput materials discovery. Here we show how to automate crystal-structure phase mapping. We formulate phase mapping as an unsupervised pattern demixing problem and describe how to solve it using deep reasoning networks (DRNets). DRNets combine deep learning with constraint reasoning for incorporating prior scientific knowledge and consequently require only a modest amount of (unlabelled) data. DRNets compensate for the limited data by exploiting and magnifying the rich prior knowledge about the thermodynamic rules governing the mixtures of crystals. DRNets are designed with an interpretable latent space for encoding prior-knowledge domain constraints and seamlessly integrate constraint reasoning into neural network optimization. DRNets surpass previous approaches on crystal-structure phase mapping, unravelling the Bi–Cu–V oxide phase diagram and aiding the discovery of solar fuels materials. Incorporating prior knowledge in deep learning models can overcome the difficulties of supervised learning, including the need for large amounts of annotated data. An approach in this area called deep reasoning networks is applied to the complex task of mapping crystal structures from X-ray diffraction data for multi-element oxide structures, and identified 13 phases from 307 X-ray diffraction patterns in the previously unsolved Bi-Cu-V oxide system.

The mechanical analysis and deformation mechanism of cap formation in orbital drilling process plays a vital role in revealing the changing law of hole-making quality at the exit machining stage. The characteristics of cap formation, generated by a dedicated cutting tool, is proposed that aimed at orbital drilling process. Especially, the cap bottom is simplified as a simply supported circular plate under a partially uniform load based on the symmetrical feature of the geometrical morphology and force condition. Its corresponding unified plastic limit analysis is developed. Then the ultimate load, stress field, and plastic deformation at the bottom of the cap are derived from the unified yield criterion. Furthermore, in terms of the Tresca yield, Huber–von Mises, and twin-shear yield criteria, the solutions are obtained by numerical calculation method and compared them with each other. Finally, conclusions were made about the cap formation mechanism in the orbital drilling of holes from the unified plastic limit analysis perspective.

Insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1) is a neurotrophic factor produced locally in the central nervous system which can promote axonal regeneration, protect motoneurons, and inhibit neuroinflammation. In this study, we used the zebrafish spinal transection model to investigate whether IGF-1 plays an important role in the recovery of motor function. Unlike mammals, zebrafish can regenerate axons and restore mobility in remarkably short period after spinal cord transection. Quantitative real-time PCR and immunofluorescence showed decreased IGF-1 expression in the lesion site. Double immunostaining for IGF-1 and Islet-1 (motoneuron marker)/GFAP (astrocyte marker)/Iba-1 (microglia marker) showed that IGF-1 was mainly expressed in motoneurons and was surrounded by astrocyte and microglia. Following administration of IGF-1 morpholino at the lesion site of spinal-transected zebrafish, swimming test showed retarded recovery of mobility, the number of motoneurons was reduced, and increased immunofluorescence density of microglia was caused. Our data suggested that IGF-1 enhances motoneuron survival and inhibits neuroinflammation after spinal cord transection in zebrafish, which suggested that IGF-1 might be involved in the motor recovery.

Properties can be tailored by tuning composition in high-order composition spaces. For spaces with complex phase behavior, modeling the properties as a function of composition and phase distribution remains a formidable challenge. We present materials structure–property factorization (MSPF) as an approach to automate modeling of such data and identify synergistic phase interactions. MSPF is an interpretable machine learning algorithm that couples phase mapping via Deep Reasoning Networks (DRNets) to matrix factorization-based modeling of the representative properties of each phase in a dataset. MSPF is demonstrated for Bi–Cu–V oxide photoanodes for solar fuel generation, which contains 25 different phase combinations and correspondingly exhibits complex composition-structure-photoactivity relationships. Comparing the measured photoactivity to a learned model for non-interacting phases, synergistic phase interactions are identified to guide further photoactivity optimization and understanding. MSPF identifies synergistic interactions of a BiVO4-like phase with both Cu2V2O7-like and CuV2O6-like phases, creating avenues for understanding complex photoelectrocatalysts.

Pear (Pyrus spp.) is one of the most consumed fruits in China, but the pear production has to confront the growing threat from fatal diseases. In this study, we report two incidences of stem canker and twig dieback disease on pear plants, which led to death of pear seedlings (approximately 10% of total plants) in Guangxi and Jiangsu provinces. Using a combination of morphological and molecular diagnoses, along with pathogenicity test, the causal agent of the disease in these two locations was identified to be the fungus Neofusicoccum parvum. However, the isolates were divided into two clades: CY-2 isolate and other four isolates including ZL-4, BM-9, BM-10 and BM-12 might split into two groups of N. parvum. Two representative isolates (CY-2 and ZL-4) were selected for further investigation. We observed that the optimal temperature for in vitro infection on pear trees of these two isolates was at round 25 °C. Both CY-2 and ZL-4 could infect different sand pear varieties and other horticultural plants in vitro, while CY-2 had a higher virulence on several pear varieties including Nanyue, Lvyun, Qiushui and Ningmenghuang. Furthermore, the efficacy of fungicides against these two isolates was evaluated, and carbendazim and flusilazole were found to be the most effective fungicides in inhibiting the growth of these fungal pathogens. Taken together, these findings redefine the N. parvum species and provide potential strategies for the future management of this disease.

The abnormal production of short chain fatty acid (SCFAs) caused by gut microbial dysbiosis plays an important role in the pathogenesis and progression of Parkinson’s disease (PD). This study sought to evaluate how butyrate, one of SCFAs, affect the pathology in a subacute 1-methyl-4-phenyl-1,2,3,6-tetrahydropyridine hydrochloride (MPTP) treated mouse model of PD. Sodium butyrate (NaB; 165 mg/kg/day i.g., 7 days) was administrated from the day after the last MPTP injection. Interestingly, NaB significantly aggravated MPTP-induced motor dysfunction (P

Patterned photonic crystals with structural colors on textile substrates have attracted a special attention due to the great advantages in application, which currently become a research hot-spot. This study utilized an ink-jet printing technology to prepare high-quality photonic crystal patterns with structural colors on polyester substrates. The self-assembly temperature of poly(styrene-N-methylol acrylamide) (P(St-NMA)) microspheres set to construct photonic crystals were deeply optimized. Moreover, the structural colors of prepared photonic crystal patterns were characterized and evaluated. When the mass fraction of P(St-NMA) microspheres was 1.0 wt.%, the pH value ranged from 5 to 7, and the surface tension was in the range of 63.79 to 71.20 mN/m, inks could present the best print performance. At 60 °C, prepared P(St-NMA) microsphere inks were good for printing to obtain patterned photonic crystals with regular arrangement and beautiful structural colors. Specifically, photonic crystals with different colors could be constructed by regulating the diameter of microspheres in inks, and prepared structural colors exhibited distinct iridescent phenomenon. The present results could provide a theoretical basis for the industrial realization of patterned photonic crystals by ink-jet printing technology.

This paper presents a generalized-extended-state-observer (GESO)-based repetitive control (RC) method for a direct-current motor servo system (DCMSS) subject to parameter perturbation and load torque variation, which are mismatched. A GESO is constructed to estimate the lumped disturbance in real time fashion. Incorporating the estimate into a state-feedback RC law yields a composite controller with a dynamical compensation gain, which ensures that the suppression of the mismatched total disturbance and the tracking of periodic signal are achieved simultaneously. The stability criterion and design procedure of the system are developed. Finally, simulation results show that the GESO-RC based DCMSS effectively eliminates the influences on the output of the parameter variation and the load disturbance and has both satisfactory dynamical performance and robustness. Comparisons with conventional PID control, PID-RC, and standard extended-state-observer based RC demonstrate the superiority of this method.

Quantum dialogue (QD) is a quantum communication mode which enables two communication parties to exchange their secret messages simultaneously. In this paper, we propose a measurement-device-independent quantum dialogue (MDI-QD) protocol using the polarization–spatial-mode hyperentanglement. The protocol can eliminate the security loopholes related to measurement devices and the information leakage. Comparing with previous MDI-QD protocol, our MDI-QD protocol has higher channel capacity. Two communication parties can exchange 4 bits of messages per hyperentangled photon pair. Moreover, for promoting its practical application, we try to use the practical linear-optical partial hyperentangled Bell-state measurement in our MDI-QD protocol, with which the parties can exchange 3 bits of messages per hyperentangled photon pair. Our high-capacity MDI-QD protocol has application potential in future quantum communication field.

The entangled coherent states (ECSs) have been widely used to realize quantum information processing tasks. However, the ECSs may suffer from photon loss and decoherence due to the inherent noise in quantum channel, which may degrade the fidelity of ECSs. To overcome these obstacles, we present a measurement-based entanglement purification protocol (MBEPP) for ECSs to distill some high-quality ECSs from a large number of low-quality copies. We first show the principle of this MBEPP without considering the photon loss. After that, we prove that this MBEPP is feasible to correct the error resulted from the photon loss. Additionally, this MBEPP only requires to operate the Bell state measurement without performing local two-qubit gates on the noisy pairs and the purified high-quality ECSs can be preserved for other applications. This MBEPP may have application potential in the implementation of long-distance quantum communication.

We present an economical entanglement purification protocol for the multi-photon polarization-entangled system in a Greenberger–Horne–Zeilinger (GHZ) state. We use one pair of two-photon Bell state or M-photon GHZ state ( $$M

One new coumarin compound, isopranferin (1), along with six known compounds 2–7, were isolated from Zanthoxylum nitidum. Their structures were determined on the basis of spectral data including 1D and 2D NMR and HR-EI-MS. Compounds 2–4, 6, and 7 were isolated from this plant for the first time. The in vitro cytotoxicity of compounds 1–7 to RAW264.7 cells, THP-1 cells, and Caco-2 cells was firstly tested by 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT) methods.

The characteristics of undeformed chip geometries generated by a dedicated cutting tool are complex in orbital drilling of Ti6Al4V and they have an important influence on the quality of hole-making. This study investigates the orbital drilling kinematics and the undeformed chip geometry based on the definition of three machining stages. A model of undeformed chip geometry is developed through simulation. The thickness of the undeformed chips and their resultant cutting volume at different stages are further analyzed and calculated. Experiments are conducted by orbital drilling of TC4 titanium alloy to verify the characteristics of the undeformed chip and cap geometries, and to ascertain their relevance to the cutting forces as well as the hole quality. It is found that the main type of chip with “a tadpole shape,” considerable chipping, and two types of caps geometries appears at three machining stages of orbital drilling process. The corresponding cutting forces reflect an approximately linear increase, stable fluctuation, and a gradual decrease, which are nearly consistent with the characteristics of the simulated unformed chip geometries. Two types of cap geometries can be used to monitor tool wear and improve the burr situation at the hole exit.

Background/objectives The assessment of nutritional status and the quality of life in patients with gastric cancer has become one of the important goals of current clinical treatment. The purpose of this study was to assess the nutritional status in hospitalized gastric cancer patients by using patient-generated subjective global assessment (PG-SGA) and to analyze the influence of nutritional status on the patients’ quality of life (QOL). Methods We reviewed the pathological diagnosis of gastric cancer for 2322 hospitalized patients using PG-SGA to assess their nutritional status and collected data on clinical symptoms, the anthropometric parameters (height, weight, body mass index (BMI), mid-arm circumference (MAC), triceps skin-fold thickness (TSF), and hand-grip strength (HGS). We also collected laboratory data (prealbumin, albumin, hemoglobin) within 48 h after the patient was admitted to the hospital. The 30-item European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer Core Quality of Life Questionnaire (EORTC QLQ-C30) was used for QOL assessment in all patients. Results By using PG-SGA, we found 80.4% of the patients were malnourished (score ≥ 4) and 45.1% of the patients required urgent nutritional support (score ≥ 9). In univariate analysis, old age (> 65 years, p

Structural coloration from photonic crystals (PCs) has attracted great interests owing to the chemical colorants-free process and highly brilliant color effects. However, the poor durability of the structural color severely restrains its practical applications. Based on this, a photopolymerization process to form polymer network structure was tactfully introduced in fabricating tough PCs on fabric substrates. The differences of surface morphology, tensile strength, binding strength and structural colors between poly(styrene-methacrylate) (P(St-MAA)) PCs and resultant P(St-MAA) PCs (named PHEA@P(St-MAA) PCs) were detailedly investigated and characterized. The results show that poly(hydroxyethyl acrylate) (PHEA) film is formed by photocross-linking reaction with diphenyl (2,4,6-trimethylbenzoyl) phosphine oxide as initiator on the surface and interstices of P(St-MAA) PCs, which effectively improves the tensile strength and binding strength of P(St-MAA) PCs on fabric substrates. The PHEA@P(St-MAA) PCs display brilliant structural colors and obvious iridescence as well, although become red-shifted in accordance with Bragg’s law. It is concluded that this research will offer theoretical basis and practical guidance for the fabrication of the tough photonic crystals on fabric substrates.

Purpose To explore the effects of group singing therapy on depression symptoms and quality of life of patients with stable chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Methods Patients with COPD were randomly allocated to intervention (n = 30) and control groups (n = 30). The intervention group received group singing therapy once a week for 24 sessions along with routine health education, whereas the control group only received the routine health education. All patients were administered the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale depression subscale (HADS-D) and the Clinical COPD Questionnaire (CCQ). Data were collected at baseline and at 1, 3, and 6 months. Results Fifty-six participants completed this trial. Significant between-group differences were observed with respect to the main effect of group and time as well as the effect of group × time interaction on HADS-D score. The HADS-D score was significantly improved 1, 3, 6 months after group singing therapy. The CCQ total scores were significantly different between the two groups with respect to the main effect of group and time and the group × time interaction effect. Significantly better CCQ was detected in the intervention group at 3 months and 6 months after intervention. Conclusions Group singing therapy reduces depressive symptoms and improves the quality of life of patients with stable COPD.

The use of key-value caches in modern web servers is becoming more and more ubiquitous. Representatively, Memcached as a widely used key-value cache system, originally intended for speeding up dynamic web applications by alleviating database load. One of the key factors affecting the performance of Memcached is the memory allocation among different item classes. How to obtain the most efficient partitioning scheme with low time and space consumption is a focus of attention. In this paper, we propose a lightweight and accurate memory allocation scheme in Memcached, by sampling access patterns, analyzing data locality, and reassigning the memory space. One early study on optimizing memory allocation is LAMA, which uses footprint-based MRC to optimize memory allocation in Memcached. However, LAMA does not model deletion operations in Memcached and its spatial overhead is quite large. We propose a method that consumes only 3% of LAMA space and can handle read, write and deletion operations. Moreover, evaluation results show that the average stable-state miss ratio is reduced by 15.0% and the average stable-state response time is reduced by 12.3% when comparing our method to LAMA.

Crotonylation of proteins is a newly found type of post-translational modifications (PTMs) which occurs leadingly on the lysine residue, namely, lysine crotonylation (Kcr). Kcr is conserved and is regulated by a series of enzymes and co-enzymes including lysine crotonyltransferase (writer), lysine decrotonylase (eraser), certain YEATS proteins (reader), and crotonyl-coenzyme A (donor). Histone Kcr has been substantially studied since 2011, but the Kcr of non-histone proteins is just an emerging field since its finding in 2017. Recent advances in the identification and quantification of non-histone protein Kcr by mass spectrometry have increased our understanding of Kcr. In this review, we summarized the main proteomic characteristics of non-histone protein Kcr and discussed its biological functions, including gene transcription, DNA damage response, enzymes regulation, metabolic pathways, cell cycle, and localization of heterochromatin in cells. We further proposed the performance of non-histone protein Kcr in diseases and the prospect of Kcr manipulators as potential therapeutic candidates in the diseases.

Hyper-encoded photon qudits and hyperentanglement can effectively increase the channel capacity and have been widely used in quantum communication field. Photon transmission loss is one of the main obstacles of quantum communication, which can reduce the communication efficiency and even threaten the security. In the paper, we propose a feasible noiseless linear amplification (NLA) protocol for protecting the single-photon qudit and two-photon hyperentanglement encoded in polarization and double-longitudinal momentum degrees of freedom (DOFs). The NLA protocol is in linear optics, and especially, it adopts practical imperfect single photon sources to generate auxiliary photons. As a result, it can be realized under current experimental condition. By performing the NLA protocol, we can increase the fidelity of target qudit and hyperentanglement and preserve their encoding features in all DOFs. This NLA protocol has application potential in current and future high-capacity quantum communication field.

As an important branch of quantum communication, quantum secure direct communication (QSDC) can directly transmit secure information between two communication parties without keys. Measurement-device-independent quantum secure direct communication (MDI–QSDC) is immune to all the attacks at detector’s side and thus can eliminate the security loopholes associated with measurement devices. Existing MDI–QSDC protocols encode secure information in only one degree of freedom (DOF) of photons. In this paper, we propose a high-capacity MDI–QSDC protocol by encoding secure information in photons’ polarization and spatial-mode DOFs. With hyper-encoding in two DOFs, we can double photons’ channel capacity and effectively increase MDI–QSDC’s communication efficiency. Moreover, for each encoded qudit, the states in two DOFs are totally independent. If a detection failure or error occurs on one DOF, the state in the other DOF can still be used to transmit secure information. This hyper-encoding MDI–QSDC may have potential applications in future quantum communication.

Hyperentanglement is a quantum system which simultaneously entangles in several degrees of freedom. It is an important resource in quantum communication field. In practical application of hyperentanglement, the photon transmission loss is a big obstacle. In the paper, we propose an entanglement-assisted noiseless linear amplification (NLA) protocol to protect the two-photon polarization–time-bin hyperentanglement. Our protocol can effectively increase the fidelity of this hyperentanglement, while preserve its polarization and time-bin features. Our NLA protocol can be realized under current experimental condition and further extended to protect the general N-photon polarization–time-bin hyperentanglement in the multi-directional transmission process. This NLA protocol may have important applications in future hyperentanglement-based quantum communication network field.

Background The differential diagnosis between primary cholangiocarcinoma and metastatic pancreatobiliary adenocarcinoma is histologically challenging due to lack of distinct morphological features and reliable molecular markers. Prostate-specific membrane antigen (PSMA) is expressed in prostate epithelium and upregulated on the surface of prostatic adenocarcinoma cells. Studies have shown PSMA enzymatic activity is involved in malignancy-driven neoangiogenesis in the endothelium of tumor-associated neovasculature in breast, lung, thyroid, hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and urothelial cancer. Recently, PSMA-targeted imaging technology (PSMA PET-CT) detected the presence of PSMA in primary cholangiocarcinoma. However histological correlation with PSMA expression other mass lesions in the liver has not yet been studied. Methods 72 cases of liver mass resection were collected at a tertiary hospital from 2011 to 2019. Immunohistochemical stains for PSMA and CD34 were performed. The expression of PSMA in tumor cells and associated neovascular endothelium were analyzed separately and the locations of vascular structures were confirmed by CD34 expression. Results Among 72 cases, 28 cases (22/72, 38.9%) showed PSMA peritumoral/vascular expression only, 3 cases (3/72, 4.2%) showed tumor cell expression only, and 2 cases (2/72, 2.8%) showed both tumor cell and peritumoral/vascular expression. The remainder (39/72, 54.2%) showed no expression. Particularly, most of primary cholangiocarcinoma showed PSMA vascular expression (13/15, 86.7%), while none of the 18 cases of metastatic pancreatobiliary adenocarcinoma were positive for PSMA (0/18, 0%) (p Conclusion Significantly enhanced tumor-associated neovascular PSMA expression was identified in primary cholangiocarcinoma, compared to metastatic pancreatobiliary adenocarcinoma. Our findings potentially provide a sensitive marker in differential diagnosis between otherwise morphologically indistinguishable cases.

In this paper, we investigate the phase sensitivities in two-path optical interferometry with asymmetric beam splitters. Here, we present the optimal conditions for the transmission ratio and the phase of the beam splitter to gain the highest sensitivities for a general class of non-classical states with parity symmetry. Additionally, we address the controversial question of whether the scheme with a combination of coherent state and photon-added or photon-subtracted squeezed vacuum state is better or worse than the most celebrated one using a combination of coherent state and squeezed vacuum state.

Skeletal muscle is a heterogeneous tissue comprised of muscle fiber and mononuclear cell types that, in addition to movement, influences immunity, metabolism and cognition. We investigated the gene expression patterns of skeletal muscle cells using RNA-seq of subtype-pooled single human muscle fibers and single cell RNA-seq of mononuclear cells from human vastus lateralis, mouse quadriceps, and mouse diaphragm. We identified 11 human skeletal muscle mononuclear cell types, including two fibro-adipogenic progenitor (FAP) cell subtypes. The human FBN1+ FAP cell subtype is novel and a corresponding FBN1+ FAP cell type was also found in single cell RNA-seq analysis in mouse. Transcriptome exercise studies using bulk tissue analysis do not resolve changes in individual cell-type proportion or gene expression. The cell-type gene signatures provide the means to use computational methods to identify cell-type level changes in bulk studies. As an example, we analyzed public transcriptome data from an exercise training study and revealed significant changes in specific mononuclear cell-type proportions related to age, sex, acute exercise and training. Our single-cell expression map of skeletal muscle cell types will further the understanding of the diverse effects of exercise and the pathophysiology of muscle disease.

The Notch signaling pathway contributes to the pathogenesis of a wide spectrum of human cancers, including hematopoietic malignancies. Its functions are highly dependent on the specific cellular context. Gain-of-function NOTCH1 mutations are prevalent in human T cell leukemia, while loss of Notch signaling is reported in myeloid leukemias. Here, we report a novel oncogenic function of Notch signaling in oncogenic Kras-induced myeloproliferative neoplasm (MPN). We find that downregulation of Notch signaling in hematopoietic cells via DNMAML expression or Pofut1 deletion significantly blocks MPN development in KrasG12D mice in a cell-autonomous manner. Further mechanistic studies indicate that inhibition of Notch signaling significantly upregulates Dusp1, a dual phosphatase that inactivates p-ERK, and downregulates cytokine-evoked ERK activation in KrasG12D cells. Moreover, mitochondrial metabolism is greatly enhanced in KrasG12D cells but significantly reprogrammed by DNMAML close to that in control cells. Consequently, cell proliferation and expanded myeloid compartment in KrasG12D mice are significantly reduced. Consistent with these findings, combined inhibition of the MEK/ERK pathway and mitochondrial oxidative phosphorylation effectively inhibited the growth of human and mouse leukemia cells in vitro. Our study provides a strong rational to target both ERK signaling and aberrant metabolism in oncogenic Ras-driven myeloid leukemia.

How oxidative stress contributes to neuro-inflammation and chronic pain is documented, and methane is reported to protect against ischemia-reperfusion injury in the nervous system via anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties. We studied whether methane in the form of methane rich saline (MS) has analgesic effects in a monoarthritis (MA) rat model of chronic inflammatory pain. Single and repeated injections of MS (i.p.) reduced MA-induced mechanical allodynia and multiple methane treatments blocked activation of glial cells, decreased IL-1β and TNF-α production and MMP-2 activity, and upregulated IL-10 expression in the spinal cord on day 10 post-MA. Furthermore, MS reduced infiltrating T cells and expression of IFN-γ and suppressed MA-induced oxidative stress (MDA and 8-OHDG), and increased superoxide dismutase and catalase activity. Thus, MS may offer anti-inflammatory and antioxidant effects to reduce chronic inflammatory pain.

The application of dedicated cutting tools with complex geometric structures in the orbital drilling process has promoted the rapid development of this new technology within the aircraft industry. Based on the orbital drilling kinematics, the complex machining path generated by the tool, combined with the large number of non-uniform and irregular chips formed under the varying cutting conditions, makes it a challenge to model the cutting force for the orbital drilling operation. This paper proposes the steady machining stage in orbital drilling as a representation of the whole machining process. During the chip formation period at this stage, the undeformed chip geometries produced by each tooth are analyzed and described. The undeformed chip thickness and the width of cut are then calculated. Based on these instantaneous chip geometries, a non-linear cutting force model for the orbital drilling process can then be developed. This experimental study on the orbital drilling process is conducted using a TC4 alloy, with the aim of calibrating the special cutting force coefficients using the average cutting force method, and further validating the cutting force model. The results show that this model can be used to predict the cutting force generated in the half rotational period in the steady cutting stage of the orbital drilling process. Furthermore, it can be used to guide the optimization of machining parameters and the structural design of the dedicated cutting tool by analyzing the relationship between the predicted cutting forces and the feed rate, with the aim of improving the final quality of the borehole.

The cloud storage service cannot be completely trusted because of the separation of data management and ownership, leading to the difficulty of data privacy protection. In order to protect the privacy of data on untrusted servers of cloud storage, a novel multi-authority access control scheme without a trustworthy central authority has been proposed based on CP-ABE for cloud storage systems, called non-centered multi-authority proxy re-encryption based on the cipher-text policy attribute-based encryption (NC-MACPABE). NC-MACPABE optimizes the weighted access structure (WAS) allowing different levels of operation on the same file in cloud storage system. The concept of identity dyeing is introduced to improve the users’ information privacy further. The re-encryption algorithm is improved in the scheme so that the data owner can revoke user’s access right in a more flexible way. The scheme is proved to be secure. And the experimental results also show that removing the central authority can resolve the existing performance bottleneck in the multi-authority architecture with a central authority, which significantly improves user experience when a large number of users apply for accesses to the cloud storage system at the same time.

Concatenated Greenberger-Horne-Zeilinger (C-GHZ) state, which encodes many physical qubits in a logic qubit will have important applications in both quantum communication and computation. In this paper, we will describe an entanglement concentration protocol (ECP) for electronic C-GHZ state, by exploiting the electronic polarization beam splitters (PBSs) and charge detection. This protocol has several advantages. First, the parties do not need to know the exact coefficients of the initial less-entangled C-GHZ state, which makes this protocol feasible. Second, with the help of charge detection, the distilled maximally entangled C-GHZ state can be remained for future application. Third, this protocol can be repeated to obtain a higher success probability. We hope that this protocol can be useful in future quantum computation based on electrons.

P(St-MAA) photonic crystals of face-centered cubic structure in bright structural colors were fabricated on polyester fabrics by interface–gravity joint self-assembly. The elaborate self-assembly process was investigated by digital camera, 3D video microscope, and field emission scanning electron microscopy, and the possible interface–gravity joint self-assembly and crystallization mechanisms of the colloidal microspheres on polyester fabric substrates were proposed. It was confirmed that the interface–gravity joint self-assembly on polyester fabrics was composed of two different self-assembly processes simultaneously, in which the rate of interfacial self-assembly driven by capillary force and convection effect is much faster than the gravitational sedimentation self-assembly under the gravity. With the evaporation of solvent, an ordered colloidal crystal structure was gradually formed in the interfacial self-assembly on the air–liquid interface with a disorder-to-order transition during crystallization stage and covered on the polyester fabric substrate filled with colloidal microspheres in gaps between yarns and fibers during gravitational sedimentation self-assembly.

Objective The aim of this case-control study was to assess the efficacy of dapagliflozin combined with metformin for type-2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) with obstructive sleep apnea hypopnea syndrome (OSAHS). Methods A total of 36 patients with newly-diagnosed T2DM and OSAHS were randomized divided into two groups. Eighteen OSAHS patients with T2DM, who were treated with dapagliflozin and metformin, were assigned as the dapagliflozin group. These patients were given dapagliflozin and metformin for 24 weeks between February 2017 and February 2018. Another 18 OSAHS patients with T2DM, who were treated with glimepiride and metformin for 24 weeks, were assigned as the control group. Fasting plasma glucose (FPG) level, postprandial blood glucose (PPG), hemoglobin A1C (HbA1c), fasting insulin, homeostasis model assessment of insulin resistance (HOMA-IR), blood lipids, body mass index (BMI), blood pressure, apnea-hypopnea index (AHI), minimum oxygen saturation (LSpO2), and Epworth Somnolence Scale (ESS) score were measured before and at 24 weeks after the initiation of treatment. Results In the dapagliflozin group, triglyceride (TG), systolic pressure (SBP) and diastolic pressure (DBP) significantly decreased following treatment, while high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) significantly increased (P 2 and a decrease in ESS score were observed in the dapagliflozin group (P Conclusion These present results indicate that dapagliflozin can significantly reduce glucose, BMI, blood pressure and AHI, and improve hypoxemia during sleep and excessive daytime sleepiness, which thereby has potential as an effective treatment approach for OSAHS.

Measurement device-independent quantum key distribution (MDI-QKD) protocols are immune to all possible attacks on the photon detectors during quantum communication, but their key generation rates are low compared with those of other QKD schemes. Increasing each individual photons channel capacity is an efficient way to increase the key generation rate, and high-dimensional (HD) encoding is a powerful tool for increasing the channel capacity of photons. In this paper, we propose an HD MDI-QKD protocol with qudits hyper-encoded in spatial mode and polarization degrees of freedom (DOFs). In the proposed protocol, keys can be generated using the spatial mode and polarization DOFs simultaneously. The proposed protocol is unconditionally secure, even for weak coherent pulses with decoy states. The proposed MDI-QKD protocol may be useful for future quantum secure communication applications.