SU(3)FSU(3)_F Meson Mass Formula from Random Phase Approximation

We present a $SU(3)_F$ meson mass formula from random phase approximation (RPA). Both the mesons of ground-state pseudoscalar octet and the ground-state vector octet are described quite well in this mass formula. We also estimate the current and constituent quark masses from the na\"{\i}ve quark model with the PCAC relation

Programmable Photonic Simulator for Spin Glass Models

Spin glasses featured by frustrated interactions and metastable states have important applications in chemistry, material sciences and artificial neural networks. However, the solution of the spin glass models is hindered by the computational complexity that exponentially increases with the sample size. Photonic Ising machines based on spatial light modulation can speed up the calculation by obtaining the Hamiltonian from the modulated light intensity. However, the large-scale generalization to various spin couplings and higher dimensions is still elusive. Here, we develop a Fourier-mask method to program the spin couplings in photonic Ising machines. We observe the phase transition of the two-dimensional Mattis model and the J$\mathrm{_1}$-J$\mathrm{_2}$ model and study the critical phenomena. We also demonstrate that the three-dimensional Ising model, which has not been analytically solved, can be effectively constructed and simulated in two-dimensional lattices with Fourier masks. Our strategy provides a flexible route to tuning couplings and dimensions of statistical spin models, and improves the applicability of optical simulation in neural networks and combinatorial optimization problems

Induction of cell death in prostate cancer cells by escopoletin, a promising treatment strategy

Escopoletin, a phenolic compound belonging to anthocyanin family shows promising antioxidant activities. In the present study, anti-cancer effects of escopoletin treatment in DU145 cells were investigated. The sulphorhodamine-B staining and annexin V and propidium iodide were respectively used for the analysis of cell viability and death. The results revealed a significantly higher cytotoxicity by escopoletin that caused cell death in DU145 cells. Escopoletin treatment in DU145 cells markedly inhibited cell growth through non-apoptotic cell death and induced significant reactive oxygen species (ROS) production. It also induced G1 cell cycle arrest and cyclin D1 accumulation through the enhanced expression of p21. However, the effect of escopoletin on DU145 cells was reversed by pretreatment with glutathione antioxidant. This suggests that escopoletin induced generation of ROS is responsible for the increased cytotoxicity in DU145 cells. Thus, escopoletin exhibits potential therapeutic efficacy for the treatment of prostate cancer.

Identification of an important site for function of the type 2C protein phosphatase ABI2 in abscisic acid signalling in Arabidopsis

It is known that the clade A protein phosphatase 2Cs (PP2Cs), including ABI1 and ABI2 and other PP2C members, are key players that function directly downstream of the PYR/PYL/RCAR abscisic acid (ABA) receptors. Here, identification of a crucial site for function of ABI2 protein phosphatase in ABA signalling is reported. It was observed that a calcium-dependent protein kinase (CDPK) phosphorylation site-like motif (CPL) in the ABI2 molecule is required for the interactions of ABI2 with the two members of the ABA receptors PYL5 and PYL9 and with a downstream protein kinase SnRK2.6, and for the catalytic activity of ABI2 in vitro, as well as for the response of ABI2 to the ABA receptors PYL5/PYL9 in relation to the ABA receptor-induced inhibition of the ABI2 phosphatase activity. Further, genetic evidence was provided to demonstrate that this CPL is required for the function of ABI2 to mediate ABA signalling. These data reveal that this CPL is an important site necessary for both the phosphatase activity of ABI2 and the functional interaction between ABI2 and PYL5/9 ABA receptors, providing new information to understand primary events of ABA signal transduction

The impact of antibiotic use on clinical features and survival outcomes of cancer patients treated with immune checkpoint inhibitors

BackgroundNowadays, immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) have become one of the essential immunotherapies for cancer patients. However, the impact of antibiotic (ATB) use on cancer patients treated with ICIs remains controversial.MethodsOur research included retrospective studies and a randomized clinical trial (RCT) with cancer patients treated with ICIs and ATB, from the public database of PubMed, Web of Science, Embase, Cochrane, clinical trials, and JAMA. The survival outcomes included progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS). Meanwhile, hazard ratios (HRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were calculated, and subgroup analyses were performed to determine the concrete association between ATB use and the prognosis of cancer patients treated in ICIs.ResultsOur results revealed that ATB use was associated with poor survival outcomes, including OS (HR: 1.94, 95% CI: 1.68–2.25, p <0.001) and PFS (HR: 1.83, 95% CI: 1.53–2.19, p <0.001). The subgroup analysis learned about the association between ATB use and the prognosis of cancer patients with ICI treatment, including 5 cancer types, 3 kinds of ICI, 5 different ATP windows, broad-spectrum ATB class, and ECOG score. ATB treatment was associated with poor OS of non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC), renal cell carcinoma (RCC), esophageal cancer (EC), and melanoma (MEL) in patients treated in ICIs, while non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) and renal cell carcinoma (RCC) were associated with poor PFS. Meanwhile, it was strongly related to the ICI type and ATB window. Furthermore, it is firstly mentioned that the use of broad-spectrum ATB class was strongly associated with poor PFS.ConclusionIn conclusion, our meta-analysis indicated that ATB use was significantly associated with poor OS and PFS of cancer patients treated with ICI immunotherapy, especially for patients with ATB use in the period of (−60 days; +30 days) near the initiation of ICI treatment. Also, different cancer types and the ICI type can also impact the survival outcome. This first reveals the strong relationship between the broad-spectrum ATB class and poor PFS. Still, more studies are needed for further study

A meta-analysis on the effect of corticosteroid therapy in Kawasaki disease

The current recommended therapy for Kawasaki disease (KD) is the combination of intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIG) and aspirin. However, the role of corticosteroid therapy in KD remains controversial. Using meta-analysis, this study aimed to investigate the efficacy of corticosteroid therapy in KD by comparing it with standard IVIG and aspirin therapy. We included all related randomized and quasi-randomized controlled trials by searching Medline, the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, EMBASE, Pub Med, Chinese BioMedical Literature Database, China National Knowledge Infrastructure, and the Japanese database (Japan Science and Technology) as well as hand searches of selected references. Data collection and meta-analysis were performed to evaluate the effect of corticosteroids. Our search yielded 11 studies; 7 of which evaluated the effect of corticosteroid for primary therapy in KD, and 4 investigated the effect of corticosteroid therapy in IVIG-resistant patients. Meta-analysis of these studies revealed a significant reduction in the rates of initial treatment failure among patients who received corticosteroid therapy in combination with IVIG compared to IVIG alone (odds ratio (OR) = 0.50; 95% CI, 0.32~0.79; p = 0.003). Furthermore, the use of corticosteroids reduced the duration of fever and the time required for C-reactive protein to return to normal. Our data did not show any significant increase in the incidence of coronary artery lesions or coronary aneurysms (OR = 0.67; 95% CI, 0.35~1.28; p = 0.23) in the corticosteroid group. Conclusion. Corticosteroid combined with IVIG in primary treatment or as treatment of IVIG-resistant patients improved clinical course without increasing coronary artery lesions in children with acute KD

The Fourteenth Data Release of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey: First Spectroscopic Data from the extended Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey and from the second phase of the Apache Point Observatory Galactic Evolution Experiment

The fourth generation of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS-IV) has been in operation since July 2014. This paper describes the second data release from this phase, and the fourteenth from SDSS overall (making this, Data Release Fourteen or DR14). This release makes public data taken by SDSS-IV in its first two years of operation (July 2014-2016). Like all previous SDSS releases, DR14 is cumulative, including the most recent reductions and calibrations of all data taken by SDSS since the first phase began operations in 2000. New in DR14 is the first public release of data from the extended Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey (eBOSS); the first data from the second phase of the Apache Point Observatory (APO) Galactic Evolution Experiment (APOGEE-2), including stellar parameter estimates from an innovative data driven machine learning algorithm known as "The Cannon"; and almost twice as many data cubes from the Mapping Nearby Galaxies at APO (MaNGA) survey as were in the previous release (N = 2812 in total). This paper describes the location and format of the publicly available data from SDSS-IV surveys. We provide references to the important technical papers describing how these data have been taken (both targeting and observation details) and processed for scientific use. The SDSS website (www.sdss.org) has been updated for this release, and provides links to data downloads, as well as tutorials and examples of data use. SDSS-IV is planning to continue to collect astronomical data until 2020, and will be followed by SDSS-V.Comment: SDSS-IV collaboration alphabetical author data release paper. DR14 happened on 31st July 2017. 19 pages, 5 figures. Accepted by ApJS on 28th Nov 2017 (this is the "post-print" and "post-proofs" version; minor corrections only from v1, and most of errors found in proofs corrected