748 research outputs found
Special Purpose Pulsar Telescope for the Detection of Cosmic Gravitational Waves
Pulsars can be used to search for stochastic backgrounds of gravitational
waves of cosmological origin within the very low frequency band (VLF),
to Hz. We propose to construct a special 50 m radio
telescope. Regular timing measurements of about 10 strong millisecond pulsars
will perhaps allow the detection of gravitational waves within VLF or at least
will give a more stringent upper limits.Comment: 5 pages, no figure, Latex fil
Landau-Zener Tunnelling in a Nonlinear Three-level System
We present a comprehensive analysis of the Landau-Zener tunnelling of a
nonlinear three-level system in a linearly sweeping external field. We find the
presence of nonzero tunnelling probability in the adiabatic limit (i.e., very
slowly sweeping field) even for the situation that the nonlinear term is very
small and the energy levels keep the same topological structure as that of
linear case. In particular, the tunnelling is irregular with showing an
unresolved sensitivity on the sweeping rate. For the case of fast-sweeping
fields, we derive an analytic expression for the tunnelling probability with
stationary phase approximation and show that the nonlinearity can dramatically
influence the tunnelling probability when the nonlinear "internal field"
resonate with the external field. We also discuss the asymmetry of the
tunnelling probability induced by the nonlinearity. Physics behind the above
phenomena is revealed and possible application of our model to triple-well
trapped Bose-Einstein condensate is discussed.Comment: 8 pages, 8 figure
A multidimensional and multiscale model for pressure analysis in a reservoir-pipe-valve system
Reservoir-pipe-valve (RPV) systems are widely used in many industrial processes. The pressure in an RPV system plays an important role in the safe operation of the system, especially during the sudden operations such as rapid valve opening or closing. To investigate the pressure response, with particular interest in the pressure fluctuations in an RPV system, a multidimensional and multiscale model combining the method of characteristics (MOC) and computational fluid dynamics (CFD) method is proposed. In the model, the reservoir is modeled as a zero-dimensional virtual point, the pipe is modeled as a one-dimensional system using the MOC, and the valve is modeled using a threedimensional CFD model. An interface model is used to connect the multidimensional and multiscale model. Based on the model, a transient simulation of the turbulent flow in an RPV system is conducted in which not only the pressure fluctuation in the pipe but also the detailed pressure distribution in the valve is obtained. The results show that the proposed model is in good agreement when compared with a high fidelity CFD model used to represent both large-scale and small-scale spaces. As expected, the proposed model is significantly more computationally efficient than the CFD model. This demonstrates the feasibility of analyzing complex RPV systems within an affordable computational time
Crowd Research at School: Crossing Flows
It has become widely known that when two flows of pedestrians cross stripes
emerge spontaneously by which the pedestrians of the two walking directions
manage to pass each other in an orderly manner. In this work, we report about
the results of an experiment on crossing flows which has been carried out at a
German school. These results include that previously reported high flow volumes
on the crossing area can be confirmed. The empirical results are furthermore
compared to the results of a simulation model which succesfully could be
calibrated to catch the specific properties of the population of participants.Comment: contribution to proceedings of Traffic and Granular Flow 2013 held in
J\"ulich, German
Uptake and transport of a novel anticancer drug-delivery system: lactosyl-norcantharidin-associated N-trimethyl chitosan nanoparticles across intestinal Caco-2 cell monolayers
In this paper, novel liver-targeting nanoparticles (NPs), lactosyl-norcantharidin (Lac-NCTD)-associated N-trimethyl chitosan (TMC) NPs (Lac-NCTD-TMC-NPs), were prepared using ionic cross-linkage. The physical properties, particle size, and encapsulation efficiency of the nanoparticles were then investigated. The continuous line of heterogeneous human epithelial colorectal adenocarcinoma cells (Caco-2) cell monolayer model was used to study the transport mechanism of Lac-NCTD, and the effects of factors such as time, temperature, pH level, drug concentration, enhancers, and inhibitors. This model was also used to indicate the differences among Lac-NCTD, Lac-NCTD-associated chitosan NPs (Lac-NCTD-CS-NPs), and Lac-NCTD-TMC- NPs in the absorption and transportation of membranes. Drug concentration levels were measured using high-performance liquid chromatography. Active transport and paracellular transport were suggested to be both the primary and secondary mechanisms for Lac-NCTD absorption, respectively. Lac-NCTD uptake and absorption were not controlled by pH levels, but were positively correlated to uptake time, and negatively correlated to temperature. The basolateral to apical apparent permeability coefficients (Papps) were higher than those of the apical to basolateral values. The inhibitor of P-glycoprotein and the multidrug resistance-associated protein 2 significantly enhanced the uptake amount of Lac-NCTD. Compared with Lac-NCTD, Lac-NCTD-CS-NPs and Lac-NCTD-TMC-NPs significantly enhanced drug absorption. Additionally, the latter exhibited stronger action. Lac-NCTD-NPs could penetrate the plasma membrane of Caco-2 cells and translocate into the cytoplasm and even into the nucleus. Nanoparticles were uptaken into Caco-2 cells through the endocytosis pathway
Metformin downregulates PD-L1 expression in esophageal squamous cell catrcinoma by inhibiting IL-6 signaling pathway
Purpose: To characterize the mechanism by which metformin inhibits PD-L1 expression in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) and to evaluate the effect of metformin on the antitumor immune response.
Methods: The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) database was used to analyze the correlations between IL-6 and prognosis and between IL-6 and PD-L1 gene expression in esophageal cancer. Reverse transcription-quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR), Western blotting and immunofluorescence were used to study the mechanism by which metformin affects PD-L1 expression. Additionally, T cell function was assessed in a coculture system containing ESCC cells and peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) treated with metformin or IL-6. In an
Results: The TCGA esophageal cancer data showed that IL-6 expression was positively correlated with PD-L1 expression and that patients with high IL-6 expression had a significantly lower overall survival rate than patients with low IL-6 expression. PD-L1 expression in ESCC cell lines was significantly inhibited by metformin
Conclusions: Metformin downregulated PD-L1 expression by blocking the IL-6/JAK2/STAT3 signaling pathway in ESCC, which enhanced the antitumor immune response
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