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This study explores the food transport efficiency (E) in a termite tunnel consisting of a main tunnel and a 2-segment loop tunnel through a model simulation. Simulated termites navigate between the main and loop tunnels through branching nodes (a , b , c , d) with associated probabilities (P 1, P 2, P 3, P 4). The loop tunnel locations (δ) are considered: near the nest (δ  = 1), at the center of the main tunnel (δ  = 2), and close to the food site (δ  = 3). The results reveal that for δ  = 1, paths such as a → d → b → c and c → d → b → a exhibited high E values. Conversely, for δ  = 2, P 3 and P 4 demonstrate elevated E values ranging from 0.4 to 0.6. For δ  = 3, paths like c → d or c → b display high E values, emphasizing the significance of in-loop separation tunnels (characterized by P 3 and P 4) in alleviating traffic congestion. Partial rank correlation validates that P 1 and P 2 minimally influence E , while P 3 and P 4 significantly negatively impact E , regardless of δ. However, for δ  = 2, the influence of P 3 and P 4 is notably reduced due to the positional symmetry of the loop tunnel. In the discussion, we address model limitations and propose strategies to overcome them. Additionally, we outline potential experimental validations to ensure a comprehensive understanding of the dynamics governing termite food transport within tunnels. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Proteins in the B cell CLL/lymphoma 2 (BCL-2) family are key regulators of the apoptotic process. This family comprises proapoptotic and prosurvival proteins, and shifting the balance toward the latter is an established mechanism whereby cancer cells evade apoptosis. The therapeutic potential of directly inhibiting prosurvival proteins was unveiled with the development of navitoclax, a selective inhibitor of both BCL-2 and BCL-2-like 1 ([BCL-X.sub.L]), which has shown clinical efficacy in some BCL-2-dependent hematological cancers. However, concomitant on-target thrombocytopenia caused by [BCL-X.sub.L] inhibition limits the efficacy achievable with this agent. Here we report the re-engineering of navitoclax to create a highly potent, orally bioavailable and BCL-2-selective inhibitor, ABT-199. This compound inhibits the growth of BCL-2-dependent tumors in vivo and spares human platelets. A single dose of ABT-199 in three patients with refractory chronic lymphocytic leukemia resulted in tumor lysis within 24 h. These data indicate that selective pharmacological inhibition of BCL-2 shows promise for the treatment of BCL-2-dependent hematological cancers., Apoptosis, or programmed cell death, is a conserved and regulated process that is the primary mechanism for the removal of aged, damaged and unnecessary cells. The ability to block apoptotic [...]

In this paper, we propose a new method for constructing a bilinear pairing over (hyper)elliptic curves, which we call the R-ate pairing. This pairing is a generalization of the Ate and [Ate.sub.i] pairing, and can be computed more efficiently. Using the R-ate pairing, the loop length in Miller's algorithm can be as small as log([r.sup.1/[phi](k)]) for some pairing-friendly elliptic curves which have not reached this lower bound. Therefore, we obtain savings of between 29% and 69% in overall costs compared to the [Ate.sub.i] pairing. On supersingular hyperelliptic curves of genus 2, we show that this approach makes the loop length in Miller's algorithm shorter than that of the Ate pairing. Index Terms--Ate pairing, elliptic curves, hyperelliptic curves, pairing based cryptography, Tate pairing.

The effect of source/drain device parameters on series resistance contribution is analyzed by employing a physical model. This model well characterizes nanoscale complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) structure and resistance characteristics.

The fabrication of a new, in-situ lateral field emitter array is described.

Photoresist reflow is used in making a novel offset gated poly-Si thin-film transistor (TFT) with subgate. The novel TFT has an innovative gate pattern and its hydrogenation effect does not conform with previous results. It has been observed that hydrogenation improves when the space between the maingate and subgate is wider for the same offset length. The leakage current is two orders of magnitude lower than those for nonoffset gated devices. Its ON current is almost identical with the latter on the frequency range 10 to 100 KHz.