Roadmap on Superoscillations

Superoscillations are band-limited functions with the counterintuitive property that they can vary arbitrarily faster than their fastest Fourier component, over arbitrarily long intervals. Modern studies originated in quantum theory, but there were anticipations in radar and optics. The mathematical understanding—still being explored—recognises that functions are extremely small where they superoscillate; this has implications for information theory. Applications to optical vortices, sub-wavelength microscopy and related areas of nanoscience are now moving from the theoretical and the demonstrative to the practical. This Roadmap surveys all these areas, providing background, current research, and anticipating future developments

Roadmap on superoscillations

Superoscillations are band-limited functions with the counterintuitive property that they can vary arbitrarily faster than their fastest Fourier component, over arbitrarily long intervals. Modern studies originated in quantum theory, but there were anticipations in radar and optics. The mathematical understanding—still being explored—recognises that functions are extremely small where they superoscillate; this has implications for information theory. Applications to optical vortices, sub-wavelength microscopy and related areas of nanoscience are now moving from the theoretical and the demonstrative to the practical. This Roadmap surveys all these areas, providing background, current research, and anticipating future developments

Post-capitalist property

When writing about property and property rights in his imagined post-capitalist society of the future, Marx seemed to envisage ‘individual property’ co-existing with ‘socialized property’ in the means of production. As the social and political consequences of faltering growth and increasing inequality, debt and insecurity gradually manifest themselves, and with automation and artificial intelligence lurking in the wings, the future of capitalism, at least in its current form, looks increasingly uncertain. With this, the question of what property and property rights might look like in the future, in a potentially post-capitalist society, is becoming ever more pertinent. Is the choice simply between private property and markets, and public (state-owned) property and planning? Or can individual and social property in the (same) means of production co-exist, as Marx suggested? This paper explores ways in which they might, through an examination of the Chinese household responsibility system (HRS) and the ‘fuzzy’ and seemingly confusing regime of land ownership that it instituted. It examines the HRS against the backdrop of Marx’s ideas about property and subsequent (post-Marx) theorizing about the legal nature of property in which property has come widely to be conceptualized not as a single, unitary ‘ownership’ right to a thing (or, indeed, as the thing itself) but as a ‘bundle of rights’. The bundle-of-rights idea of property, it suggests, enables us to see not only that ‘individual’ and ‘socialized’ property’ in the (same) means of production might indeed co-exist, but that the range of institutional possibility is far greater than that between capitalism and socialism/communism as traditionally conceived

Shenzhiling Oral Liquid Protects STZ-Injured Oligodendrocyte through PI3K/Akt-mTOR Pathway

White matter degeneration and demyelination are nonnegligible pathological manifestations of Alzheimer’s disease (AD). The damage of myelin sheath consisting of oligodendrocytes is the basis of AD’s unique early lesions. Shenzhiling oral liquid (SZL) was the effective Chinese herbal compound approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for the treatment of AD in China, which plays the exact therapeutic role in clinical AD patients. However, its molecular mechanism remains unclear to date. For this purpose, an in vitro mode of streptozotocin- (STZ-) induced rat oligodendrocyte OLN-93 cell injury was established to mimic the pathological changes of myelin sheath of AD and investigate the mechanism of SZL protecting injured OLN-93 cell. The results showed that STZ can decrease cell viability and downregulate the activity of PI3K/Akt-mTOR signalling pathway and the expression of myelin sheath-related proteins (MBP, MOG, and PLP) in OLN-93 cells. Both SZL-medicated serum and donepezil (positive control) can protect cells from STZ-caused damage. SZL-medicated serum increased OLN-93 cell viability in a dose- and time-dependent manner and enhanced the activity of PI3K/Akt-mTOR signalling pathway. The inhibitor of PI3K (LY294002) inhibited the protective effect of SZL-medicated serum on the STZ-injured OLN-93 cells. Furthermore, rapamycin, the inhibitor of mTOR, inhibited the promotion of cell viability and upregulation of p-mTOR and MBP caused by SZL-medicated serum. In conclusion, our data indicate that SZL plays its therapeutic role on AD by promoting PI3K/Akt-mTOR signalling pathway of oligodendrocytes. Thus, the present study may facilitate the therapeutic research of AD

Effects of sodium ferulate for injection on anticoagulation of warfarin in rats in vivo

Abstract Background Herb-drug interactions may result in increased adverse drug reactions or diminished drug efficacy, especially for drugs with a narrow therapeutic index such as warfarin. The current study investigates the effects of sodium ferulate for injection (SFI) on anticoagulation of warfarin from aspects of pharmacodynamics and pharmacokinetics in rats and predicts the risk of the combination use. Methods Rats were randomly divided into different groups and administered single- or multiple-dose of warfarin (0.2 mg/kg) with or without SFI of low dose (8.93 mg/kg) or high dose (26.79 mg/kg). Prothrombin time (PT) and activated partial thromboplastin time (APTT) were detected by a blood coagulation analyzer, and international normalized ratio (INR) values were calculated. UPLC-MS/MS was conducted to measure concentrations of warfarin enantiomers and pharmacokinetic parameters were calculated by DAS2.0 software. Results The single-dose study demonstrated that SFI alone had no effect on coagulation indices, but significantly decreased PT and INR values of warfarin when the two drugs were co-administered (P  0.05). C max and AUC of R/S-warfarin decreased but CL increased significantly in presence of SFI (P  0.05). Conclusions The present study implied that SFI could accelerate warfarin metabolism and weaken its anticoagulation intensity in rats

Lactobacillus johnsonii 6084 alleviated sepsis‐induced organ injury by modulating gut microbiota

Abstract Sepsis is a public cause of death in intensive care unit patients. Probiotics were widely used to increase the survival rate of sepsis by a series of clinical research. The purpose of this research was to investigate the therapeutic effects of Lactobacillus johnsonii 6084 in septic mice. Sepsis mouse model was induced by LPS treatment. The influence of L. johnsonii 6084 on the protection of organ injury induced by sepsis was explored. Moreover, the composition of gut microbiota was studied to clarify the mechanism of L. johnsonii 6084 therapeutic effect on sepsis. L. johnsonii 6084 treatment could conspicuously decrease the mortality and organ injury of sepsis. The reduction of gut microbial diversity and richness in septic mice were moderated by the administration of 6084. The abundance of Bacteroidetes and Proteobacteria were change by LPS treatment while restored by L. johnsonii 6084. To conclude, probiotic 6084 may has optimistic result on reducing mortality of sepsis through rebalancing gut microbiota

Study on the Damage Mechanism of Bank Slope-Bridge Pile Foundation Interaction under Reservoir Water Level Cycle

The physical and mechanical properties of the reservoir bank slope deteriorate under the fluctuation of water level, causing bank debonding and slippage, which can produce different degrees of damage to the bridge foundation, piers, and superstructure, a condition that is difficult to treat. In this paper, for a Yangtze River Bridge bank slope instability problem in the Three Gorges reservoir area, a numerical model of the bank slope and bridge was established using the finite element-SPH conversion coupling algorithm, and the pile pier damage development law and damage mode (deformation and stress–strain curves of the bank slope and pile foundation) were obtained according to the geological conditions of the bridge location. Additionally, combined with the characteristics of bank destabilization in the reservoir area of the Three Gorges Yangtze River Bridge, landslide management is proposed by using soil drainage and anti-slip pile reinforcement measures. In addition, for the characteristics of bridge pier deflection, a comprehensive deflection correction reinforcement method of pushing deflection correction, adding pile foundation, expanding pile bearing, and increasing pier cross-sectional area is proposed, so as to provide a theoretical basis for the prevention and control of reservoir bank landslides, the service life of pile structure, and the disposal of diseases