Berry's phase for coherent states of Landau levels

The Berry phases for coherent states and squeezed coherent states of Landau levels are calculated. Coherent states of Landau levels are interpreted as a result of a magnetic flux moved adiabatically from infinity to a finite place on the plane. The Abelian Berry phase for coherent states of Landau levels is an analog of the Aharonov- Bohm effect. Moreover, the non-Abelian Berry phase is calculated for the adiabatic evolution of the magnetic field B.Comment: 4 pages, 1 figur

Fast Video Retrieval via the Statistics of Motion

[[abstract]]Due to the popularity of the Internet and the powerful computing capability of computers, efficient processing/retrieval of multimedia data has become an important issue. In this paper, we propose a fast video retrieval algorithm that bases its search core on the statistics of object motion. The algorithm starts with extracting object motions from a shot and then transform/quantize them into the form of probability distributions. By choosing the shot that has the largest entropy value among the constituent shots of an unknown query video clip, we execute the first stage video search.By comparing two shots with different lengths, their corresponding motion probability distributions are compared by a discrete Bhattacharyya distance which is designed to measure the similarity between any two distribution functions. In the second stage, we add an adjacent shot(either preceding or subsequent) to perform a finer comparison. Experimental results demonstrate that our fast video retrieval algorithm is powerful in terms of accuracy and efficiency.[[fileno]]2030144030026[[department]]電機工程學

Old Technique -New Evidence: Topical agents for musculo-skeletal injuries

The popular use of topical agents for the treatment of musculoskeletal injuries has persisted for centuries but not much scientific evaluations have been done. Since medicinal herbs are particularly popular in Asia, we started a systematic exploration on their choices, and their pharmacological activities; whether transcutaneous transport of bioactive components occur and above all, whether quality clinical evidences could be generated. We found that a search on the vast literature pool would reveal the favourable choices of herbal agents. Biological screening of those selected herbs showed that they probably follow three major common pathways to help with healing after injury, viz, anti-inflammation, pro-angiogenesis and cellular proliferation. Using a simple formula of selected herbs with the ideal bioactivities, evidence based clinical trials could be organized to further prove the efficacy. We have created two such formulae to be put on clinical trial. Our early pilot clinical trials on two minor injuries on the foot and one chronic inflammatory condition have yielded positive data on the value of such topical agents on pain and oedema control, as well as functional maintenance. There was also suggestion of more rapid bone healing. Although limitations exist clear with the small number of study subjects, the positive data and safe application support more studies

Seizing the window of opportunity to mitigate the impact of climate change on the health of Chinese residents

The health threats posed by climate change in China are increasing rapidly. Each province faces different health risks. Without a timely and adequate response, climate change will impact lives and livelihoods at an accelerated rate and even prevent the achievement of the Healthy and Beautiful China initiatives. The 2021 China Report of the Lancet Countdown on Health and Climate Change is the first annual update of China’s Report of the Lancet Countdown. It comprehensively assesses the impact of climate change on the health of Chinese households and the measures China has taken. Invited by the Lancet committee, Tsinghua University led the writing of the report and cooperated with 25 relevant institutions in and outside of China. The report includes 25 indicators within five major areas (climate change impacts, exposures, and vulnerability; adaptation, planning, and resilience for health; mitigation actions and health co-benefits; economics and finance; and public and political engagement) and a policy brief. This 2021 China policy brief contains the most urgent and relevant indicators focusing on provincial data: The increasing health risks of climate change in China; mixed progress in responding to climate change. In 2020, the heatwave exposures per person in China increased by 4.51 d compared with the 1986–2005 average, resulting in an estimated 92% increase in heatwave-related deaths. The resulting economic cost of the estimated 14500 heatwave-related deaths in 2020 is US$176 million. Increased temperatures also caused a potential 31.5 billion h in lost work time in 2020, which is equivalent to 1.3% of the work hours of the total national workforce, with resulting economic losses estimated at 1.4% of China’s annual gross domestic product. For adaptation efforts, there has been steady progress in local adaptation planning and assessment in 2020, urban green space growth in 2020, and health emergency management in 2019. 12 of 30 provinces reported that they have completed, or were developing, provincial health adaptation plans. Urban green space, which is an important heat adaptation measure, has increased in 18 of 31 provinces in the past decade, and the capacity of China’s health emergency management increased in almost all provinces from 2018 to 2019. As a result of China’s persistent efforts to clean its energy structure and control air pollution, the premature deaths due to exposure to ambient particulate matter of 2.5 μm or less (PM2.5) and the resulting costs continue to decline. However, 98% of China’s cities still have annual average PM2.5 concentrations that are more than the WHO guideline standard of 10 μg/m3. It provides policymakers and the public with up-to-date information on China’s response to climate change and improvements in health outcomes and makes the following policy recommendations. (1) Promote systematic thinking in the related departments and strengthen multi-departmental cooperation. Sectors related to climate and development in China should incorporate health perspectives into their policymaking and actions, demonstrating WHO’s and President Xi Jinping’s so-called health-in-all-policies principle. (2) Include clear goals and timelines for climate-related health impact assessments and health adaptation plans at both the national and the regional levels in the National Climate Change Adaptation Strategy for 2035. (3) Strengthen China’s climate mitigation actions and ensure that health is included in China’s pathway to carbon neutrality. By promoting investments in zero-carbon technologies and reducing fossil fuel subsidies, the current rebounding trend in carbon emissions will be reversed and lead to a healthy, low-carbon future. (4) Increase awareness of the linkages between climate change and health at all levels. Health professionals, the academic community, and traditional and new media should raise the awareness of the public and policymakers on the important linkages between climate change and health.</p

Berberine enhances inhibition of glioma tumor cell migration and invasiveness mediated by arsenic trioxide

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Arsenic trioxide (As₂O₃) exhibits promising anticarcinogenic activity in acute promyelocytic leukemic patients and induces apoptosis in various tumor cells <it>in vitro</it>. Here, we investigated the effect of the natural alkaloid berberine on As₂O₃-mediated inhibition of cancer cell migration using rat and human glioma cell lines.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>The 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyl tetrazolium bromide (MTT) assay was used to determine the viability of rat C6 and human U-87 glioma cells after treatment with As₂O₃or berberine, and after co-treatment with As₂O₃and berberine. The wound scratch and Boyden chamber assays were applied to determine the effect of As₂O₃and berberine on the migration capacity and invasiveness of glioma cancer cells. Zymography and Western blot analyses provided information on the effect of As₂O₃and berberine on the intracellular translocation and activation of protein kinase C (PKC), and some PKC-related downstream factors. Most assays were performed three times, independently, and data were analyzed using ANOVA.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The cell viability studies demonstrated that berberine enhances As₂O₃-mediated inhibition of glioma cell growth after 24 h incubation. Untreated control cells formed a confluent layer, the formation of which was inhibited upon incubation with 5 μM As₂O₃. The latter effect was even more pronounced in the presence of 10 μM berberine. The As₂O₃-mediated reduction in motility and invasion of glioma cells was enhanced upon co-treatment with berberine. Furthermore, it has been reported that PKC isoforms influence the morphology of the actin cytoskeleton, as well as the activation of metalloproteases MT1-MMP and MMP-2, reported to be involved in cancer cell migration. Treatment of glioma cells with As₂O₃and berberine significantly decreased the activation of PKC α and ε and led to actin cytoskeleton rearrangements. The levels of two downstream transcription factors, myc and jun, and MT1-MMP and MMP-2 were also significantly reduced.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Upon co-treatment of glioma cells with As₂O₃and berberine, cancer cell metastasis can be significantly inhibited, most likely by blocking the PKC-mediated signaling pathway involved in cancer cell migration. This study is potentially interesting for the development of novel chemotherapeutic approaches in the treatment of malignant gliomas and cancer development in general.</p

Meta-analysis Followed by Replication Identifies Loci in or near CDKN1B, TET3, CD80, DRAM1, and ARID5B as Associated with Systemic Lupus Erythematosus in Asians

Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is a prototype autoimmune disease with a strong genetic involvement and ethnic differences. Susceptibility genes identified so far only explain a small portion of the genetic heritability of SLE, suggesting that many more loci are yet to be uncovered for this disease. In this study, we performed a meta-analysis of genome-wide association studies on SLE in Chinese Han populations and followed up the findings by replication in four additional Asian cohorts with a total of 5,365 cases and 10,054 corresponding controls. We identified genetic variants in or near CDKN1B, TET3, CD80, DRAM1, and ARID5B as associated with the disease. These findings point to potential roles of cell-cycle regulation, autophagy, and DNA demethylation in SLE pathogenesis. For the region involving TET3 and that involving CDKN1B, multiple independent SNPs were identified, highlighting a phenomenon that might partially explain the missing heritability of complex diseases

Experimental Verification of the Elastic Formula for the Aspirated Length of a Single Cell Considering the Size and Compressibility of Cell During Micropipette Aspiration

In this study, an aspiration system for elastic spheres was developed to verify the approximate elastic formula for the aspirated length of a single solid-like cell undergoing micropipette aspiration (MPA), which was obtained in our previous study by theoretical analysis and numerical simulation. Using this system, foam silicone rubber spheres with different diameters and mechanical properties were aspirated in a manner similar to the MPA of single cells. Comparisons between the approximate elastic formula and aspiration experiments of spheres indicated that the predictions of the formula agreed with the experimental results. Additionally, combined with the MPA data of rabbit chondrocytes, differences in terms of the elastic parameters derived from the half-space model, incompressible sphere model, and compressible sphere model were explored. The results demonstrated that the parameter ξ (ξ = R/a, where R is the radius of the cell and a is the inner radius of the micropipette) and Poisson’s ratio significantly influenced the determination of the elastic modulus and bulk modulus of the cell. This work developed for the first time an aspiration system of elastic spheres to study the elastic responses of the MPA of a single cell and provided new evidence supporting the use of the approximate elastic formula to determine cellular elastic parameters from the MPA data