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The thermodynamics and the weak cosmic censorship conjecture (WCCC) in a high dimensional RN − AdSd+ 1 black hole with energy-momentum relation are investigated by absorbing a charged particle in the phase space. In the RN − AdSd+ 1 space-time, the cosmological constant Λ is treated as a thermodynamic pressure and its conjugate quantity as a thermodynamic volume. We use the energy-momentum relation of the absorbed particle to discuss the thermodynamics of the RN − AdSd+ 1 black hole and to prove the WCCC in the phase space. Based on this assumption, we find that the first law and the second law of thermodynamics are satisfied in normal phase space. On the other hand, in the extend phase space, the first law is satisfied and the second law is violated. Then we study the WCCC in the phase space, we find that the WCCC is satisfied for an extreme black and a near-extreme black hole in the normal phase space. In the extend phase space, the WCCC is satisfied for an extreme black hole and unidentified for a near-extreme black hole.

This article details the development of methods for the synthesis of phonemes of the human voice based on the analytical description of individual formants. A technique for analyzing the spectrum and spectrograms of original phonemes to obtain the main amplitude-frequency characteristics of the signal components is presented. An algorithm to reconstruct a speech signal based on the obtained sets of parameters is proposed. A technique to assess the quality of synthesized speech elements is described

A flake aluminum powder (f-Al) is prepared by a bi-directional rotation mill method using a spherical aluminum powder (s-Al) as a raw material. Then, these two kinds of aluminum powders are used to prepare ammonium perchlorate-based composite modified double-base (AP-based CMDB) propellants. The properties of two kinds of AP-based CMDB propellants, such as the thermal decomposition performance, mechanical sensitivity, and combustion performance, are comprehensively researched. The results show that the exothermic peak temperature of the f-Al/AP-based CMDB propellant is lower than that of the s-Al/AP-based CMDB propellant. The impact and friction sensitivities of the propellant decrease by 12% and 187% after using f-Al to replace s-Al. In addition, the burning rate of the f-Al/AP-based CMDB propellant is 5.5% higher.

To date, few studies have assessed the impact of forest conversion or seasonal changes on soil microbial community assembly. To fill this research gap, 16S rRNA and ITS gene sequences were used to evaluate the effects of forest conversion and seasonal changes on the assembly of bacterial and fungal communities using 260 soil samples collected from tropical rainforest and rubber plantation sites across Hainan Island, South China. A majority (~60%) of observed OTUs conformed with neutral model expectations, indicating that neutral processes were important for the assembly of soil microbial communities. For bacterial communities, the NST (normalized stochasticity ratio) was higher in the tropical rainforest (0.746 in the dry season, 0.684 in the rainy season) versus rubber plantation sites (0.647, 0.584), regardless of season. Thus, forest conversion decreased the importance of stochasticity for soil bacterial community assembly. For fungal communities, rubber plantation communities showed greater stochasticity (NST = 0.578) than rainforest communities (NST = 0.388) in the dry season, but the reverse was true in the rainy season (NST = 0.852 for rubber plantations; NST = 0.978 for rainforest). Both the NST results and structural equation modeling showed that bacterial communities were more stochastic in the dry season, while fungal communities were more stochastic in the rainy season; the effects of seasonal changes on assembly therefore differed between bacterial and fungal communities. More importantly, forest conversion did not have a direct impact on the assembly of bacterial or fungal communities, but exerted indirect effects via soil pH and soil AK.

The role of Transposable Elements (TEs) in regulating diverse biological processes, from early development to cancer, is becoming increasing appreciated. However, unlike other biological processes, next generation single-cell sequencing technologies are ill-suited for assaying TE expression: in particular, their highly repetitive nature means that short cDNA reads cannot be unambiguously mapped to a specific locus. Consequently, it is extremely challenging to understand the mechanisms by which TE expression is regulated and how they might themselves regulate other protein coding genes. To resolve this, we introduce CELLO-seq, a novel method and computational framework for performing long-read RNA sequencing at single cell resolution. CELLO-seq allows for full-length RNA sequencing and enables measurement of allelic, isoform and TE expression at unique loci. We use CELLO-seq to assess the widespread expression of TEs in 2-cell mouse blastomeres as well as human induced pluripotent stem cells (hiPSCs). Across both species, old and young TEs showed evidence of locus-specific expression, with simulations demonstrating that only a small number of very young elements in the mouse could not be mapped back to with high confidence. Exploring the relationship between the expression of individual elements and putative regulators revealed surprising heterogeneity, with TEs within a class showing different patterns of correlation, suggesting distinct regulatory mechanisms.

1. The present study was conducted to obtain a better understanding of the molecular mechanisms underlying broodiness in a commercial breed, Tianfu geese, as little is known about the role of the pineal gland in this period. The aim was to identify genes which are differentially expressed in the pineal gland between the laying and broodiness periods by performing a transcriptome screen.2. After sequencing cDNA derived from the pineal gland and annotation of the results, a sequencing depth of 14.82 and 18.17 million mapped tags was obtained during the laying and broodiness periods, respectively, and a total of 120 differentially expressed genes were identified. Of these, 32 genes showing up-regulated expression and 88 genes showing down-regulated expression were identified in broodiness period vs. laying period libraries.3. Gene ontology (GO) analyses showed that these genes were related to the visual process, phototransduction, and lipoprotein metabolism. Kyoto Encyclopaedia of Genes and Genome (KEGG) analyses showed that phototransduction and tryptophan metabolism pathways exhibited the largest enrichment factors. The reliability of the RNA sequence data was confirmed by quantitative real-time PCR analysis of five genes, and the results were mostly consistent with those from the high-throughput RNA sequencing.4. The goose transcriptome and the identification of differentially expressed genes provided comprehensive gene expression information that enables a better understanding of the molecular mechanisms underlying the broodiness period of geese.

Objective: Low-dose aspirin (LDA) therapy has been found to be effective in preventing the development of early-onset preeclampsia. However, its effect on late-onset preeclampsia has not been described. Our study was aimed at determining if LDA therapy prescribed from early in pregnancy modified the severity of late-onset preeclampsia. Materials and methods: A retrospective analysis of all women who were screened for early-onset preeclampsia at 11–13+6 weeks’ gestation between April 2012 and October 2014 at our institution, and who subsequently developed late-onset preeclampsia. The treatment group consisted of women who were prescribed LDA therapy from early in pregnancy as a result of the screening. The control group consisted of women who did not receive LDA therapy. Results: The aspirin group was associated with earlier delivery at 38.0 (37.5–38.5) weeks’ gestation versus 39.0 (38.7–39.4) weeks’ gestation for the nonaspirin group (p

Based on a higher energy scale, the dispersion relation might be corrected. Correspondingly, the Hamilton–Jacobi equation should also be modified. In this paper, we use the correction to study the fermion tunneling radiation for a Gibbons–Maeda–Garfinkle-Horowitz–Strominger (GMGHS) black hole, a Kerr–NUT black hole, and an Einstein–Maxwell–Dilaton–Axion (EMDA) black hole. The result shows that compared to the charged GMGHS black hole and the rotating Kerr–NUT black hole, the Hawking temperate and the entropy of the rotating charged EMDA black hole not only are related to the correction parameter [Formula: see text] and particle mass [Formula: see text] but also depend on the angle parameter [Formula: see text] of the black hole coordinates.

In recent years, multiregional clinical trial (MRCT) has become a preferred strategy to develop new medicines. Implementing the same protocol to include subjects from many geographical regions around the world, MRCTs could speed up the patient enrollment, thus resulted in a quicker drug development and obtain faster approval of the drug globally. At the same time, the MRCT strategy is expected to maintain the sample size at the similar level, i.e., without significantly driving up the cost and slowing down the speed of the development.

To determine if home blood pressure measurement (HBPM) provides comparable results to clinic blood pressure (BP) measurement.A prospective, single-centre study of 37 pregnant and early post-partum women with a hypertensive pregnancy or at high-risk of developing a hypertensive pregnancy were asked to perform HBPM for a minimum period of one week. This was subsequently compared to clinic BP measurement both before and after the period of home measurement.The accuracy of HBPM compared to clinic measurement, and the acceptability by patients for HBPM.The HBPM was comparable to clinic measurements [for the systolic blood pressure (SBP), the mean home reading was 123.4mmHg (122.0-124.9mmHg) versus 123.9mmHg (121.3-126.5mmHg) for the clinic reading (p=0.69); for the diastolic blood pressure (DBP) the mean home reading was 81.6mmHg (80.4-82.8mmHg) versus 84.4mmHg (82.6-86.2mmHg) for the clinic (p0.01)]. There were no reported issues associated with the use of HBPM, but it did lead to 5 women contacting health care professionals for management of their BP between clinic visits.HBPM provides comparable results to the clinic BP measurement. It is also an acceptable technique for pregnant and early post-partum women. However, it should be used as an adjunct to clinic measurement, and cannot at this present stage replace clinic visits or clinic BP measurement.

Mouse embryonic stem cells are derived fromin vitroexplantation of blastocyst epiblasts1,2and contribute to both the somatic lineage and germline when returned to the blastocyst3but are normally excluded from the trophoblast lineage and primitive endoderm4–6. Here, we report that cultures of expanded potential stem cells (EPSCs) can be established from individual blastomeres, by direct conversion of mouse embryonic stem cells (ESCs) and by genetically reprogramming somatic cells. Remarkably, a single EPSC contributes to the embryo proper and placenta trophoblasts in chimeras. Critically, culturing EPSCs in a trophoblast stem cell (TSC) culture condition permits direct establishment of TSC lines without genetic modification. Molecular analyses including single cell RNA-seq reveal that EPSCs share cardinal pluripotency features with ESCs but have an enriched blastomere transcriptomic signature and a dynamic DNA methylome. These proof-of-concept results open up the possibility of establishing cultures of similar stem cells in other mammalian species.

It is suggested that the dispersion relation might be corrected at higher energy scales and lead to the deformed Hamilton–Jacobi equation. In this paper, we use the correction to investigate the fermion tunneling radiation for Demianski–Newman black hole spacetime, and the result shows that the corresponding Hawking temperature and the black hole entropy are related to the angular parameters of the black hole coordinates.

By combining the black hole property of adiabaticity and the oscillating velocity of the black hole horizon, we study the entropy and the area spectra of the Reissner–Nordstrom–anti-de Sitter black hole. Instead of using the quasi-normal mode frequencies, we utilize the oscillating velocity of the event horizon in the tunneling framework to obtain the black hole spectroscopy via adiabatic invariance. The results show that, both of the area spectrum and the entropy spectrum are equally spaced and independent on the parameters of the black hole.

By introducing a new tortoise coordinate transformation, we apply Damour-Ruffini-Sannan method to study the Hawking radiation of massive scalar particles in a dynamic Dilaton-Maxwell black hole. We find that Hawking radiation spectrum shows still the blackbody one, while the Hawking temperature is significantly changed. Additionally, by adopting the thin film method, we calculate the entropy of a dynamic Dilaton-Maxwell black hole. The result indicates that the entropy for such a black hole is still in proportional to the area of its event horizon.

Imposing the Bohr-Sommerfeld quantization rule to the adiabatic invariant quantity, we study the quantum spectrum of entropy for the Kerr-Sen black hole. The equally spaced entropy spectrum is derived. However, whether the spacing of the area spectrum is equidistant spaced or not, is still somewhat controversial.

BackgroundAlthough technique failure is a key outcome in peritoneal dialysis (PD), there is currently no agreement on a uniform definition. We explored different definitions of PD technique failure using data from the Australia and New Zealand Dialysis and Transplant (ANZDATA) Registry.MethodsWe included 16,612 incident PD patients in Australia and New Zealand from January 1998 to December 2012. Different definitions of technique failure were applied according to the minimum number of days (30, 60, 90, 180, or 365) the patient received hemodialysis after cessation of PD.ResultsMedian technique survival varied from 2.0 years with the 30-day definition to 2.4 years with the 365-day definition. For all definitions, the most common causes of technique failure were death, followed by infectious complications. The likelihood of a patient returning to PD within 12 months of technique failure was highest in the 30-day definition (24%), and was very small when using the 180- and 365-day definitions (3% and 0.8%, respectively). Patients whose technique failed due to mechanical reasons were the most likely to return to PD (46% within 12 months using the 30-day definition).ConclusionsBoth 30- and 180-day definitions have clinical relevance but offer different perspectives with very different prognostic implications for further PD. Therefore, we propose that PD technique failure be defined by a composite endpoint of death or transfer to hemodialysis using both 30-day and 180-day definitions.

A significant proportion of peritoneal dialysis (PD) patients will have abrupt technique failure requiring conversion to haemodialysis, often using temporary vascular catheters as bridging access. However, vascular catheter use has been associated with increased mortality and great effort has been made to reduce their use. Just under two decades ago, a trial of dual arteriovenous fistula (AVF) formation and Tenckhoff catheter insertion reported only 4% of those in whom back-up fistulae were formed ever used them. Patient demographic, surgical technique and fistula care over those decades have changed substantially, potentially making this practice feasible. Thirty-five selected patients at Concord Repatriation and General Hospital had AVF formed at the time of Tenckhoff insertion and were entered prospectively into a vascular access database. We retrospectively examined this database with a median follow up of 345 days (interquartile range 183-658). Thirty-one per cent of all patients used the preformed AVF, and a further 19% who were still on PD had clinically functioning AVF. The vast majority (62%) had abrupt PD technique failure. This is a marked difference to dated reports of AVF use after concurrent PD and AVF formation. It raises the possibility that the formation of back-up fistula may be another method to reduce the need for vascular catheter use.

In order to create a bank of goat spermatozoa, it was important to evaluate the protective effect of five different cryoprotectant extenders. Additionally, this study determined whether the cryoprotective effect of trehalose is superior to that of other disaccharides. The data indicate that the motility (~20%) and path velocity (~15 μm/s) of spermatozoa frozen with extenders containing disaccharide were significantly less than that of spermatozoa frozen with extender containing no disaccharide (45.21 ± 3.51% and 28.66 ± 13.57 μm/s, respectively; p0.01). Moreover, in the presence of disaccharide, the percentage of goat spermatozoa with exposed phosphatidylserine following cryopreservation was over 35% and significantly higher than spermatozoa frozen in the absence of disaccharide (4.88 ± 3.41%, p0.01). In addition, the presence of disaccharide did not increase the thermal resistance or protect membrane integrity of frozen spermatozoa. However, the percentage of cells with an intact acrosome following cryopreservation in the presence of disaccharide was significantly greater than that of cells frozen with no disaccharide (p0.05). Finally, the protective effect of trehalose on frozen goat spermatozoa was similar to that of sucrose, maltose, or lactose (p0.05). In conclusion, the effect of trehalose on frozen goat spermatozoa is not superior to that of other disaccharides including sucrose, maltose, or lactose. Moreover, disaccharide used as the main solute does not improve the quality of frozen goat spermatozoa except for protection of acrosome integrity. The role of disaccharide on frozen goat spermatozoa still needs further elucidation.

The Hawking effect of Dirac particles in a non-stationary Kerr-Newman black hole is investigated using an improved Damour-Ruffini method with a new tortoise coordinate transformation. In contrast with the old tortoise coordinate, the new one satisfies the dimensional requirement. It is interesting to note that the Hawking emission spectrum remains a blackbody one with a correction term ξ existing in the Hawking temperature. Compared with the old tortoise coordinate transformation, our results appears more accurate and reliable.

In this paper, the shadow and the corresponding naked singularity cast by a Kerr–Sen black hole are studied. It is found that the shadow of a rotating black hole would be a dark zone surrounded by a deformed circle, and the shadow is distorted more away from a circle when the black hole approaches the extremal case. Besides, it is shown that the mean radius of the shadow decreases and distortion parameter increases with the increasing of charge, respectively. However, the mean radius and the distortion parameter vary complicatedly with the change of spin parameter. In the beginning, both observables decrease rapidly with the increasing of specific angular momentum, nevertheless, they increase slightly in the latter part. These results show that there would be a significant effect of the spin on the shadows, which would be of great importance for probing the nature of the black hole.

Contents Pluripotent stem cells (PSCs) generated from somatic cells via ectopic expression of specific transcription factors provide an unlimited cell resource for regenerative medicine and transgenic breeding. Here, we describe the successful generation of bovine induced PSCs (biPSCs) from foetal fibroblasts by lentivirus-mediated delivery of bovine pluripotency reprogramming factors (PRFs) OCT3/4, SOX2, KLF4, c-MYC, NANOG and LIN28. The generated biPSCs resembled embryonic stem cells (ESCs) in their gene expression profiles, self-renewal capabilities and proliferation, as well as maintenance of a normal karyotype and differentiation into diverse cell types of all three germ layers both in vitro and in vivo. Qualitative phosphoproteomics of biPSCs revealed a large number of phosphorylated proteins, which might be related to the control of biPSCs status. The successful generation of biPSCs and the analysis of their phosphoproteome would further our understanding of the epigenetic mechanisms underlying iPSC pluripotency, thus promoting their application in bovine transgenic breeding and marking avenues for future research.

Background and objectives There is conflicting evidence comparing peritonitis rates among patients treated with continuous ambulatory peritoneal dialysis (CAPD) or automated peritoneal dialysis (APD). This study aims to clarify the relationship between peritoneal dialysis (PD) modality (APD versus CAPD) and the risk of developing PD-associated peritonitis. Design, setting, participants, & measurements This study examined the association between PD modality (APD versus CAPD) and the risks, microbiology, and clinical outcomes of PD-associated peritonitis in 6959 incident Australian PD patients between October 1, 2003, and December 31, 2011, using data from the Australia and New Zealand Dialysis and Transplant Registry. Median follow-up time was 1.9 years. Results Patients receiving APD were younger (60 versus 64 years) and had fewer comorbidities. There was no association between PD modality and time to first peritonitis episode (adjusted hazard ratio [HR] for APD versus CAPD, 0.98; 95% confidence interval [95% CI], 0.91 to 1.07; P =0.71). However, there was a lower hazard of developing Gram-positive peritonitis with APD than CAPD, which reached borderline significance (HR, 0.90; 95% CI, 0.80 to 1.00; P =0.05). No statistically significant difference was found in the risk of hospitalizations (odds ratio, 1.12; 95% CI, 0.93 to 1.35; P =0.22), but there was a nonsignificant higher likelihood of 30-day mortality (odds ratio, 1.33; 95% CI, 0.93 to 1.88; P =0.11) at the time of the first episode of peritonitis for patients receiving APD. For all peritonitis episodes (including subsequent episodes of peritonitis), APD was associated with lower rates of culture-negative peritonitis (incidence rate ratio [IRR], 0.81; 95% CI, 0.69 to 0.94; P =0.002) and higher rates of gram-negative peritonitis (IRR, 1.28; 95% CI, 1.13 to 1.46; P =0.01). Conclusions PD modality was not associated with a higher likelihood of developing peritonitis. However, APD was associated with a borderline reduction in the likelihood of a first episode of Gram-positive peritonitis compared with CAPD, and with lower rates of culture-negative peritonitis and higher rates of Gram-negative peritonitis. Peritonitis outcomes were comparable between both modalities.

Applying a dimensional reduction technique and a coordinates transformation approach, we deduce the Kerr-Newman space-time into a Painlev\'{e}-like form, and obtain its corresponding event horizon and the Hawking radiation temperature. We find that, the event horizon of a Kerr-Newman black hole can be simulated in a superconducting transmission line. Moreover, by running some numerical simulation, we confirm that the Hawking radiation of a Kerr-Newman Black Hole can be experimentally measured in a superconducting transmission line., Comment: This paper has been withdrawn by the authors. We request to withdraw this submission, because we found some inaccuracies in this manuscript. We apologize for any inconvenience to you

BCL2-specific inhibitor ABT-199 synergizes strongly with cytarabine against the early immature LOUCY cell line but not more-differentiated T-ALL cell lines

Objective: To determine the reliability of automated blood pressure (BP) measuring devices in hypertensive pregnancies. Methods: Three sequential measurements were taken using mercury sphygmomanometry and an automated device in pregnant hypertensive women (n = 89). Results: Systolic BP (SBP) was higher with the automated device (mean difference 2.5 mmHg, 95% CI: 1.9–3.2 mmHg), whereas diastolic BP (DBP) was higher with the mercury sphygmomanometer (mean difference 2.0 mmHg, 95% CI: 1.5–2.6 mmHg). Within-patient variability for the automated device was: SBP 4.8 mmHg (95% CI: 4.6–5.2 mmHg), DBP 3.4 mmHg (95% CI: 3.1–3.7 mmHg); and for mercury sphygmomanometry: SBP 3.7 mmHg (95% CI: 3.5–4.0 mmHg), DBP 3.0 mmHg (95% CI: 2.8–3.3 mmHg). Conclusion: Outpatient automated BP measurement agrees well with mercury sphygmomanometry in hypertensive pregnancies.

In order to improve the quality of frozen spermatozoa of Yunnan semi-fine wool sheep, 1, 4-cyclohexanediol (1, 4-CHD) as a synthetic ice blocker was used for cryopreservation of ram spermatozoa in this study. Briefly, following collection by electric stimulation, equilibration at 5℃ following dilution with the freezing extender, and pre-freezing in liquid nitrogen vapor, the ram spermatozoa were preserved in liquid nitrogen for one month. In addition, the effects of osmolarity of the diluting extenders used for evaluation of frozen spermatozoa quality were also assessed. The results indicated addition of 1, 4-CHD could not increase the motility of ram spermatozoa after cryopreservation and thawing. With the elevation of the concentrations of 1, 4-CHD, the motility and moving velocity of frozen ram spermatozoa showed a steady decrease. Additionally, the presence of 1, 4-CHD cannot increase the percentage of frozen spermatozoa with intact acrosome and membrane. When the isotonic binding buffer was used to dilute the thawed spermatozoa, the percentage of cells labeled with propidium iodide (PI) after cryopreservation in the presence of 1, 4-CHD was significantly higher than that of spermatozoa frozen in the absence of 1, 4-CHD (P0.05). However, the percentage of frozen-thawed spermatozoa with exposed PS in the presence of 1, 4-CHD was significantly less than that of spermatozoa frozen in the absence of 1, 4-CHD (P0.01). When the basic extenders with an osmolarity of 404mOsm, 528mOsm, 648mOsm, or 853mOsm were used to dilute the frozen-thawed spermatozoa respectively, there is no significant difference between the four groups with respect to the moving velocity and membrane integrity (P0.05). In conclusion, the presence of 1, 4-CHD cannot improve the motility, moving velocity, acrosome staus, and membrane integrity of frozen ram spermatozoa. However, 1, 4-CHD may inhibit apoptosis caused by freezing and thawing.

Aim To evaluate the efficacy of a team-led anaemia management protocol based on current guidelines. Methods The effect of a treatment protocol in implementing an anaemia guideline was evaluated in a large teaching hospital, encompassing three (two in-hospital and one satellite) dialysis facilities. Quarterly data were collected, over a 6-year period, on all patients dialysing in these facilities, before and after implementation of an anaemia management treatment protocol. This protocol was developed by a physician-led team and implemented by an anaemia coordinator assisted by the unit staff. The primary outcome measure was the proportion of patients receiving erythropoietin with ferritin levels within the national guidelines target range calculated using data on haemoglobin (Hb), iron studies, dry weight and erythropoietin dose. Results Data was collected on >150 patients every quarter between 2005 and 2010 (inclusive). The proportion of patients within the primary outcome target range increased from a nadir of 17% to 51% with evidence of true systematic change. The proportion of patients with Hb values within the unit target range also increased from 46% to 56% (P = 0.25) between the first and last years of the project. These changes were also associated with reduced erythropoietin drug use down to 0.44 μg/kg per week. Conclusion Implementation of a treatment protocol for anaemia management in haemodialysis patients was associated with greater consistency with guideline evidence and lower drug use. Achieving such guideline recommendations for ferritin targets in more than 50% of patients appears feasible.

A significant proportion of peritoneal dialysis (PD) patients will have abrupt technique failure requiring conversion to haemodialysis, often using temporary vascular catheters as bridging access. However, vascular catheter use has been associated with increased mortality and great effort has been made to reduce their use. Just under two decades ago, a trial of dual arteriovenous fistula (AVF) formation and Tenckhoff catheter insertion reported only 4% of those in whom back-up fistulae were formed ever used them. Patient demographic, surgical technique and fistula care over those decades have changed substantially, potentially making this practice feasible. Thirty-five selected patients at Concord Repatriation and General Hospital had AVF formed at the time of Tenckhoff insertion and were entered prospectively into a vascular access database. We retrospectively examined this database with a median follow up of 345 days (interquartile range 183-658). Thirty-one per cent of all patients used the preformed AVF, and a further 19% who were still on PD had clinically functioning AVF. The vast majority (62%) had abrupt PD technique failure. This is a marked difference to dated reports of AVF use after concurrent PD and AVF formation. It raises the possibility that the formation of back-up fistula may be another method to reduce the need for vascular catheter use.

We apply the Damour–Ruffini–Sannan method to study the Hawking radiations of scalar and Dirac particles in non-stationary Kerr black holes under different tortoise coordinate transformations. We found that all the relevant Hawking radiation spectra show still the blackbody ones, while the Hawking temperatures are strongly related to the used tortoise coordinate transformations. The properties of these dependences are discussed analytically and numerically. Our results imply that proper selections of tortoise coordinate transformations should be important in the studies of Hawking radiations and the correct selection would be given by the experimental observations in the future.

We discuss the monitoring of clinical trials data and propose two surrogates for total information for use with the spending function approach where there are repeated measurements and we wish to compare the rates of change in a response variable under different treatments. These surrogates are applied to a setting similar to the Lung Health Study. Although the surrogates do not require estimation of the variance parameters, they do require some knowledge of the ratio R of the within- to the between-individual variances. The effects of overestimating and underestimating R are illustrated. In situations of uncertainty we recommend overestimating R, to provide a conservative estimate of information time at each interim analysis.

Polymer-bonded explosives (PBXs) came into being and are widely used as energetic fillings in many systems as they are more chemically and mechanically stable than traditional ones. There are three kinds of materials named by PBX1, PBX2 and PBX3, the last two of which are newly invented. To investigate the mechanical properties of newly manufactured PBXs, we carried out the dynamic compression tests as a function of strain rate and temperature with Split Hopkinson Pressure Bar (SHPB). The experiment temperatures were set to be 25°C, 50°C and 65°C. The constant strain rate is assured by using brass as a pulse shaper, and as for brittle materials, the constant loading strain rate is limited at about 550s-1. The results show that the compressive strengths and moduli of each material decrease with increasing temperature and increasing with increasing strain rate. Failure is by brittle fracture for each condition and the cracks’ major axis makes an angle of 30° with the direction of the applied stress.

In many clinical trials, data are monitored periodically by an external data monitoring committee (DMC). Usually the frequency of these interim 'looks' at the data is prespecified. However, the progress of a clinical trial is unpredictable; often the schedule of looks must be modified. The Lan-DeMets procedure provides a spending function approach which does not require prespecification of the frequency or timing of interim looks. The procedure was developed based on the principle of a continuous Brownian motion process. In this paper we employ more elementary concepts to describe a procedure which is based upon the continuous monitoring of emerging data. The approach is flexible in that it applies to both continuous data monitoring and occasional interim monitoring. Examples are given from real clinical trials.