Cosmological perturbations in a gravity with quadratic order curvature couplings

We present a set of equations describing the evolution of the scalar-type cosmological perturbation in a gravity with general quadratic order curvature coupling terms. Equations are presented in a gauge ready form, thus are ready to implement various temporal gauge conditions depending on the problems. The Ricci-curvature square term leads to a fourth-order differential equation for describing the spacetime fluctuations in a spatially homogeneous and isotropic cosmological background.Comment: 5 pages, no figure, To appear in Phys. Rev.

Evaluation of a Liquid Amine System for Spacecraft Carbon Dioxide Control

The analytical and experimental studies are described which were directed toward the acquisition of basic information on utilizing a liquid amine sorbent for in use in a CO2 removal system for manned spacecraft. Liquid amine systems are successfully used on submarines for control of CO2 generated by the crew, but liquid amines were not previously considered for spacecraft applications due to lack of development of satisfactory rotary phase separators. Developments in this area now make consideration of liquid amines practical for spacecraft system CO2 removal. The following major tasks were performed to evaluate liquid amine systems for spacecraft: (1) characterization, through testing, of the basic physical and thermodynamic properties of the amine solution; (2) determination of the dynamic characteristics of a cocurrent flow absorber; and (3) evaluation, synthesis, and selection of a liquid amine system concept oriented toward low power requirements. A low weight, low power system concept was developed. Numerical and graphical data are accompanied by pertinent observations

Appendix to "Approximating perpetuities"

An algorithm for perfect simulation from the unique solution of the distributional fixed point equation $Y=_d UY + U(1-U)$ is constructed, where $Y$ and $U$ are independent and $U$ is uniformly distributed on $[0,1]$. This distribution comes up as a limit distribution in the probabilistic analysis of the Quickselect algorithm. Our simulation algorithm is based on coupling from the past with a multigamma coupler. It has four lines of code

Extraction of Lipids from Grain Sorghum DDG

Soxhlet and recirculated solvent extraction methods were used to extract lipid materials from grain sorghum DDG. The lipid content in DDG with a moisture content of 6.7% (dry basis) was as high as 9.32% of the dried DDG as determined by Soxhlet extraction with n-hexane. There was a slight increase in the lipid yield from 9.21% to 9.68% when the moisture contents increased from 2.1% to 17.4% (d.b.). Thin-layer chromatography (TLC) analysis showed that the sorghum lipids were composed of triacylglycerols, fatty acids, fatty alcohols, fatty aldehydes, free sterols, wax esters, and steryl esters. A bench-scale recirculated extraction system was used to investigate the extractability of lipid materials from the DDG under various experimental conditions including solvent to solid ratio (2:1 to 5:1), extraction temperature (45°C, 55°C, 68°C), and extraction time (1 to 6 h). The extractability of DDG lipid ranged from 70.3% to 94.5%. At extraction temperatures near the boiling point of n-hexane, a solvent to solid ratio of 3:1, and an extraction time of 4 h achieved the maximum lipid yield. There was no apparent increase in the extraction yield with further increase of the solvent to solid ratio or extraction time

Ratiometric spectral imaging for fast tumor detection and chemotherapy monitoring in vivo

We report a novel in vivo spectral imaging approach to cancer detection and chemotherapy assessment. We describe and characterize a ratiometric spectral imaging and analysis method and evaluate its performance for tumor detection and delineation by quantitatively monitoring the specific accumulation of targeted gallium corrole (HerGa) into HER2-positive (HER2 +) breast tumors. HerGa temporal accumulation in nude mice bearing HER2 + breast tumors was monitored comparatively by a. this new ratiometric imaging and analysis method; b. established (reflectance and fluorescence) spectral imaging; c. more commonly used fluorescence intensity imaging. We also tested the feasibility of HerGa imaging in vivo using the ratiometric spectral imaging method for tumor detection and delineation. Our results show that the new method not only provides better quantitative information than typical spectral imaging, but also better specificity than standard fluorescence intensity imaging, thus allowing enhanced in vivo outlining of tumors and dynamic, quantitative monitoring of targeted chemotherapy agent accumulation into them

Cosmological Gravitational Wave in a Gravity with Quadratic Order Curvature Couplings

We present a set of equations describing the cosmological gravitational wave in a gravity theory with quadratic order gravitational coupling terms which naturally arise in quantum correction procedures. It is known that the gravitational wave equation in the gravity theories with a general $f(R)$ term in the action leads to a second order differential equation with the only correction factor appearing in the damping term. The case for a $R^{ab} R_{ab}$ term is completely different. The gravitational wave is described by a fourth order differential equation both in time and space. However, curiously, we find that the contributions to the background evolution are qualitatively the same for both terms.Comment: 4 pages, revtex, no figure

A General Phase Matching Condition for Quantum Searching Algorithm

A general consideration on the phase rotations in quantum searching algorithm is taken in this work. As four phase rotations on the initial state, the marked states, and the states orthogonal to them are taken account, we deduce a phase matching condition for a successful search. The optimal options for these phase are obtained consequently.Comment: 3 pages, 3 figure

Quantum Gambling Using Three Nonorthogonal States

We provide a quantum gambling protocol using three (symmetric) nonorthogonal states. The bias of the proposed protocol is less than that of previous ones, making it more practical. We show that the proposed scheme is secure against non-entanglement attacks. The security of the proposed scheme against entanglement attacks is shown heuristically.Comment: no essential correction, 4 pages, RevTe

Multimodality imaging in vivo for preclinical assessment of tumor-targeted doxorubicin nanoparticles.

This study presents a new multimodal imaging approach that includes high-frequency ultrasound, fluorescence intensity, confocal, and spectral imaging to improve the preclinical evaluation of new therapeutics in vivo. Here we use this approach to assess in vivo the therapeutic efficacy of the novel chemotherapy construct, HerDox during and after treatment. HerDox is comprised of doxorubicin non-covalently assembled in a viral-like particle targeted to HER2+ tumor cells, causing tumor cell death at over 10-fold lower dose compared to the untargeted drug, while sparing the heart. Whereas our initial proof-of-principle studies on HerDox used tumor growth/shrinkage rates as a measure of therapeutic efficacy, here we show that multimodal imaging deployed during and after treatment can supplement traditional modes of tumor monitoring to further characterize the particle in tissues of treated mice. Specifically, we show here that tumor cell apoptosis elicited by HerDox can be monitored in vivo during treatment using high frequency ultrasound imaging, while in situ confocal imaging of excised tumors shows that HerDox indeed penetrated tumor tissue and can be detected at the subcellular level, including in the nucleus, via Dox fluorescence. In addition, ratiometric spectral imaging of the same tumor tissue enables quantitative discrimination of HerDox fluorescence from autofluorescence in situ. In contrast to standard approaches of preclinical assessment, this new method provides multiple/complementary information that may shorten the time required for initial evaluation of in vivo efficacy, thus potentially reducing the time and cost for translating new drug molecules into the clinic