323 research outputs found
N-player quantum games in an EPR setting
The -player quantum game is analyzed in the context of an
Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen (EPR) experiment. In this setting, a player's
strategies are not unitary transformations as in alternate quantum
game-theoretic frameworks, but a classical choice between two directions along
which spin or polarization measurements are made. The players' strategies thus
remain identical to their strategies in the mixed-strategy version of the
classical game. In the EPR setting the quantum game reduces itself to the
corresponding classical game when the shared quantum state reaches zero
entanglement. We find the relations for the probability distribution for
-qubit GHZ and W-type states, subject to general measurement directions,
from which the expressions for the mixed Nash equilibrium and the payoffs are
determined. Players' payoffs are then defined with linear functions so that
common two-player games can be easily extended to the -player case and
permit analytic expressions for the Nash equilibrium. As a specific example, we
solve the Prisoners' Dilemma game for general . We find a new
property for the game that for an even number of players the payoffs at the
Nash equilibrium are equal, whereas for an odd number of players the
cooperating players receive higher payoffs.Comment: 26 pages, 2 figure
A High Throughput Screen Identifies Nefopam as Targeting Cell Proliferation in β-Catenin Driven Neoplastic and Reactive Fibroproliferative Disorders
Fibroproliferative disorders include neoplastic and reactive processes (e.g. desmoid tumor and hypertrophic scars). They are characterized by activation of β-catenin signaling, and effective pharmacologic approaches are lacking. Here we undertook a high throughput screen using human desmoid tumor cell cultures to identify agents that would inhibit cell viability in tumor cells but not normal fibroblasts. Agents were then tested in additional cell cultures for an effect on cell proliferation, apoptosis, and β-catenin protein level. Ultimately they were tested in Apc1638N mice, which develop desmoid tumors, as well as in wild type mice subjected to full thickness skin wounds. The screen identified Neofopam, as an agent that inhibited cell numbers to 42% of baseline in cell cultures from β-catenin driven fibroproliferative disorders. Nefopam decreased cell proliferation and β-catenin protein level to 50% of baseline in these same cell cultures. The half maximal effective concentration in-vitro was 0.5 uM and there was a plateau in the effect after 48 hours of treatment. Nefopam caused a 45% decline in tumor number, 33% decline in tumor volume, and a 40% decline in scar size when tested in mice. There was also a 50% decline in β-catenin level in-vivo. Nefopam targets β-catenin protein level in mesenchymal cells in-vitro and in-vivo, and may be an effective therapy for neoplastic and reactive processes driven by β-catenin mediated signaling
An effective all-atom potential for proteins
We describe and test an implicit solvent all-atom potential for simulations
of protein folding and aggregation. The potential is developed through studies
of structural and thermodynamic properties of 17 peptides with diverse
secondary structure. Results obtained using the final form of the potential are
presented for all these peptides. The same model, with unchanged parameters, is
furthermore applied to a heterodimeric coiled-coil system, a mixed alpha/beta
protein and a three-helix-bundle protein, with very good results. The
computational efficiency of the potential makes it possible to investigate the
free-energy landscape of these 49--67-residue systems with high statistical
accuracy, using only modest computational resources by today's standards
Evaluation of Protective Efficacy of Respiratory Syncytial Virus Vaccine against A and B Subgroup Human Isolates in Korea
Human respiratory syncytial virus (HRSV) is a significant cause of upper and lower respiratory tract illness mainly in infants and young children worldwide. HRSV is divided into two subgroups, HRSV-A and HRSV-B, based on sequence variation within the G gene. Despite its importance as a respiratory pathogen, there is currently no safe and effective vaccine for HRSV. In this study, we have detected and identified the HRSV by RT-PCR from nasopharyngeal aspirates of Korean pediatric patients. Interestingly, all HRSV-B isolates exhibited unique deletion of 6 nucleotides and duplication of 60 nucleotides in the G gene. We successfully amplified two isolates (‘KR/A/09-8’ belonging to HRSV-A and ‘KR/B/10-12’ to HRSV-B) on large-scale, and evaluated the cross-protective efficacy of our recombinant adenovirus-based HRSV vaccine candidate, rAd/3xG, by challenging the immunized mice with these isolates. The single intranasal immunization with rAd/3xG protected the mice completely from KR/A/09-8 infection and partially from KR/B/10-12 infection. Our study contributes to the understanding of the genetic characteristics and distribution of subgroups in the seasonal HRSV epidemics in Korea and, for the first time, to the evaluation of the cross-protective efficacy of RSV vaccine against HRSV-A and -B field-isolates
Search for CP violation in the decay B0->D*+-D-+
We report a search for CP-violating asymmetry in B0 -> D*+- D-+ decays. The
analysis employs two methods of B0 reconstruction: full and partial. In the
full reconstruction method all daughter particles of the B0 are required to be
detected; the partial reconstruction technique requires a fully reconstructed
D- and only a slow pion from the D*+ -> D0 pi_slow+ decay. From a fit to the
distribution of the time interval corresponding to the distance between two B
meson decay points we calculate the CP-violating parameters and find the
significance of nonzero CP asymmetry to be 2.7 standard deviations.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figure
Magnetism, FeS colloids, and Origins of Life
A number of features of living systems: reversible interactions and weak
bonds underlying motor-dynamics; gel-sol transitions; cellular connected
fractal organization; asymmetry in interactions and organization; quantum
coherent phenomena; to name some, can have a natural accounting via
interactions, which we therefore seek to incorporate by expanding the horizons
of `chemistry-only' approaches to the origins of life. It is suggested that the
magnetic 'face' of the minerals from the inorganic world, recognized to have
played a pivotal role in initiating Life, may throw light on some of these
issues. A magnetic environment in the form of rocks in the Hadean Ocean could
have enabled the accretion and therefore an ordered confinement of
super-paramagnetic colloids within a structured phase. A moderate H-field can
help magnetic nano-particles to not only overcome thermal fluctuations but also
harness them. Such controlled dynamics brings in the possibility of accessing
quantum effects, which together with frustrations in magnetic ordering and
hysteresis (a natural mechanism for a primitive memory) could throw light on
the birth of biological information which, as Abel argues, requires a
combination of order and complexity. This scenario gains strength from
observations of scale-free framboidal forms of the greigite mineral, with a
magnetic basis of assembly. And greigite's metabolic potential plays a key role
in the mound scenario of Russell and coworkers-an expansion of which is
suggested for including magnetism.Comment: 42 pages, 5 figures, to be published in A.R. Memorial volume, Ed
Krishnaswami Alladi, Springer 201
Improved Measurements of Partial Rate Asymmetry in B -> h h Decays
We report improved measurements of the partial rate asymmetry (Acp) in B -> h
h decays with 140fb^-1 of data collected with the Belle detector at the KEKB
e+e- collider. Here h stands for a charged or neutral pion or kaon and in total
five decay modes are included: K-+ pi+-, K0s pi-+, K-+ pi0, pi-+ pi0 and K0s
pi0. The flavor of the last decay mode is determined from the accompanying B
meson. Using a data sample 4.7 times larger than that of our previous
measurement, we find Acp(K-+ pi+-) -0.088+-0.035+-0.013, 2.4 sigma from zero.
Results for other decay modes are also presented.Comment: 9 pages, 1 figur
Development of an Orthotopic Human Pancreatic Cancer Xenograft Model Using Ultrasound Guided Injection of Cells
Mice have been employed as models of cancer for over a century, providing significant advances in our understanding of this multifaceted family of diseases. In particular, orthotopic tumor xenograft mouse models are emerging as the preference for cancer research due to increased clinical relevance over subcutaneous mouse models. In the current study, we developed orthotopic pancreatic cancer xenograft models in mice by a minimally invasive method, ultrasound guided injection (USGI) comparable to highly invasive surgical orthotopic injection (SOI) methods. This optimized method prevented injection complications such as recoil of cells through the injection canal or leakage of cells out of the pancreas into the peritoneal cavity. Tumor growth was monitored in vivo and quantified by ultrasound imaging weekly, tumors were also detected by in vivo fluorescence imaging using a tumor targeted molecular probe. The mean tumor volumes for the USGI and SOI models after 2 weeks of tumor growth were 205 mm3 and 178 mm3 respectively. By USGI of human pancreatic cancer cell lines, human orthotopic pancreatic cancer xenografts were established. Based on ultrasound imaging, the orthotopic human pancreatic cancer xenograft take rate was 100% for both human pancreatic cancer cell lines used, MiaPaCa-2 and Su86.86, with mean tumor volumes of 28 mm3and 30 mm3. We demonstrated that this USGI method is feasible, reproducible, facile, minimally invasive and improved compared to the highly-invasive SOI method for establishing orthotopic pancreatic tumor xenograft models suitable for molecular imaging
Study of the decays B->D_s1(2536)+ anti-D(*)
We report a study of the decays B -> D_s1(2536)+ anti-D(*), where anti-D(*)
is anti-D0, D- or D*-, using a sample of 657 x 10^6 B anti-B pairs collected at
the Upsilon(4S) resonance with the Belle detector at the KEKB asymmetric-energy
e+e- collider. The branching fractions of the decays B+ -> D_s1(2536)+ anti-D0,
B0 -> D_s1(2536)+ D- and B0 -> D_s1(2536)+ D*- multiplied by that of
D_s1(2536)+ -> (D*0K+ + D*+K0) are found to be (3.97+-0.85+-0.56) x 10^-4,
(2.75+-0.62+-0.36) x 10^-4 and (5.01+-1.21+-0.70) x 10^-4, respectively.Comment: 6 pages, 2 figues, submitted to PRD (RC
Development of an Orthotopic Human Pancreatic Cancer Xenograft Model Using Ultrasound Guided Injection of Cells
Mice have been employed as models of cancer for over a century, providing significant advances in our understanding of this multifaceted family of diseases. In particular, orthotopic tumor xenograft mouse models are emerging as the preference for cancer research due to increased clinical relevance over subcutaneous mouse models. In the current study, we developed orthotopic pancreatic cancer xenograft models in mice by a minimally invasive method, ultrasound guided injection (USGI) comparable to highly invasive surgical orthotopic injection (SOI) methods. This optimized method prevented injection complications such as recoil of cells through the injection canal or leakage of cells out of the pancreas into the peritoneal cavity. Tumor growth was monitored in vivo and quantified by ultrasound imaging weekly, tumors were also detected by in vivo fluorescence imaging using a tumor targeted molecular probe. The mean tumor volumes for the USGI and SOI models after 2 weeks of tumor growth were 205 mm3 and 178 mm3 respectively. By USGI of human pancreatic cancer cell lines, human orthotopic pancreatic cancer xenografts were established. Based on ultrasound imaging, the orthotopic human pancreatic cancer xenograft take rate was 100% for both human pancreatic cancer cell lines used, MiaPaCa-2 and Su86.86, with mean tumor volumes of 28 mm3and 30 mm3. We demonstrated that this USGI method is feasible, reproducible, facile, minimally invasive and improved compared to the highly-invasive SOI method for establishing orthotopic pancreatic tumor xenograft models suitable for molecular imaging
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