High-Order Adiabatic Approximation for Non-Hermitian Quantum System and Complexization of Berry's Phase

In this paper the evolution of a quantum system drived by a non-Hermitian Hamiltonian depending on slowly-changing parameters is studied by building an universal high-order adiabatic approximation(HOAA) method with Berry's phase ,which is valid for either the Hermitian or the non-Hermitian cases. This method can be regarded as a non-trivial generalization of the HOAA method for closed quantum system presented by this author before. In a general situation, the probabilities of adiabatic decay and non-adiabatic transitions are explicitly obtained for the evolution of the non-Hermitian quantum system. It is also shown that the non-Hermitian analog of the Berry's phase factor for the non-Hermitian case just enjoys the holonomy structure of the dual linear bundle over the parameter manifold. The non-Hermitian evolution of the generalized forced harmonic oscillator is discussed as an illustrative examples.Comment: ITP.SB-93-22,17 page

Bearing signal separation enhancement with application to helicopter transmission system

The file attached to this record is the author's final peer reviewed version. The Publisher's final version can be found by following the DOI link.Bearing vibration signal separation is essential for fault detection of gearboxes, especially where the vibration is nonstationary, susceptible to background noise, and subjected to an arduous transmission path from the source to the receiver. This paper presents a methodology for improving fault detection via a series of vibration signal processing techniques, including signal separation, synchronous averaging (SA), spectral kurtosis (SK), and envelope analysis. These techniques have been tested on experimentally obtained vibration data acquired from the transmission system of a CS-29 Category A helicopter gearbox operating under different bearing damage conditions. Results showed successful enhancement of bearing fault detection on the second planetary stage of the gearbo

Fc-Optimized Anti-CD25 Depletes Tumor-Infiltrating Regulatory T Cells and Synergizes with PD-1 Blockade to Eradicate Established Tumors

CD25 is expressed at high levels on regulatory T (Treg) cells and was initially proposed as a target for cancer immunotherapy. However, anti-CD25 antibodies have displayed limited activity against established tumors. We demonstrated that CD25 expression is largely restricted to tumor-infiltrating Treg cells in mice and humans. While existing anti-CD25 antibodies were observed to deplete Treg cells in the periphery, upregulation of the inhibitory Fc gamma receptor (FcγR) IIb at the tumor site prevented intra-tumoral Treg cell depletion, which may underlie the lack of anti-tumor activity previously observed in pre-clinical models. Use of an anti-CD25 antibody with enhanced binding to activating FcγRs led to effective depletion of tumor-infiltrating Treg cells, increased effector to Treg cell ratios, and improved control of established tumors. Combination with anti-programmed cell death protein-1 antibodies promoted complete tumor rejection, demonstrating the relevance of CD25 as a therapeutic target and promising substrate for future combination approaches in immune-oncology

Estimation of GFR in South Asians: a study from the general population in Pakistan.

BACKGROUND: South Asians are at high risk for chronic kidney disease. However, unlike those in the United States and United Kingdom, laboratories in South Asian countries do not routinely report estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) when serum creatinine is measured. The objectives of the study were to: (1) evaluate the performance of existing GFR estimating equations in South Asians, and (2) modify the existing equations or develop a new equation for use in this population. STUDY DESIGN: Cross-sectional population-based study. SETTING & PARTICIPANTS: 581 participants 40 years or older were enrolled from 10 randomly selected communities and renal clinics in Karachi. PREDICTORS: eGFR, age, sex, serum creatinine level. OUTCOMES: Bias (the median difference between measured GFR [mGFR] and eGFR), precision (the IQR of the difference), accuracy (P30; percentage of participants with eGFR within 30% of mGFR), and the root mean squared error reported as cross-validated estimates along with bootstrapped 95% CIs based on 1,000 replications. RESULTS: The CKD-EPI (Chronic Kidney Disease Epidemiology Collaboration) creatinine equation performed better than the MDRD (Modification of Diet in Renal Disease) Study equation in terms of greater accuracy at P30 (76.1% [95% CI, 72.7%-79.5%] vs 68.0% [95% CI, 64.3%-71.7%]; P \u3c 0.001) and improved precision (IQR, 22.6 [95% CI, 19.9-25.3] vs 28.6 [95% CI, 25.8-31.5] mL/min/1.73 m(2); P \u3c 0.001). However, both equations overestimated mGFR. Applying modification factors for slope and intercept to the CKD-EPI equation to create a CKD-EPI Pakistan equation (such that eGFRCKD-EPI(PK) = 0.686 × eGFRCKD-EPI(1.059)) in order to eliminate bias improved accuracy (P30, 81.6% [95% CI, 78.4%-84.8%]; P \u3c 0.001) comparably to new estimating equations developed using creatinine level and additional variables. LIMITATIONS: Lack of external validation data set and few participants with low GFR. CONCLUSIONS: The CKD-EPI creatinine equation is more accurate and precise than the MDRD Study equation in estimating GFR in a South Asian population in Karachi. The CKD-EPI Pakistan equation further improves the performance of the CKD-EPI equation in South Asians and could be used for eGFR reporting