Case report of rapidly progressive proliferative verrucous leukoplakia and a proposal for aetiology in mainland China

Proliferative verrucous leukoplakia (PVL) is a rare oral leukoplakia and has four features such as chronic proliferation, multiple occurrences, refractoriness to treatment and high rate of malignant transformation. As mentioned above, most PVL cases processed to malignancy over many years, sometimes 20 years. However, this report described a case of rapid progress, which had malignant transformation in a short period. Additionally, the aetiology of PVL was discussed and immunity was proposed as the possible cause

Asynchronous measurement-device-independent quantum key distribution with hybrid source

The linear constraint of secret key rate capacity is overcome by the tiwn-field quantum key distribution (QKD). However, the complex phase-locking and phase-tracking technique requirements throttle the real-life applications of twin-field protocol. The asynchronous measurement-device-independent (AMDI) QKD or called mode-pairing QKD protocol [PRX Quantum 3, 020315 (2022), Nat. Commun. 13, 3903 (2022)] can relax the technical requirements and keep the similar performance of twin-field protocol. Here, we propose an AMDI-QKD protocol with a nonclassical light source by changing the phase-randomized weak coherent state to a phase-randomized coherent-state superposition (CSS) in the signal state time window. Simulation results show that our proposed hybrid source protocol significantly enhances the key rate of the AMDI-QKD protocol, while exhibiting robustness to imperfect modulation of nonclassical light sources.Comment: 9 pages, 4 figure

Economic Evaluation of Treating Herpes Zoster with Various Methods of Acupuncture and Moxibustion

AbstractObjectiveTo analyze the cost effect of surrounding acupuncture plus electric acupuncture, cotton-sheet moxibustion, puncturing with red-hot needles, tapping plus cupping on herpes zoster.MethodsFive hundred patients with herpes zoster were randomly divided into group A (surrounding acupuncture plus electric acupuncture), group B (cotton-sheet moxibustion), group C (puncturing with red-hot needles), group D (tapping plus cupping), and group E (Western medicine). The treatment was carried out twice a day in group E and once a day in the other four groups. The curative effect was observed on the 10th day of treatment; the cost was calculated for the five therapies, and the cost-effect ratio (C/E) and increment ratio (ΔC/ΔE) were analyzed.ResultsAfter the 10-day treatment, there was no statistical difference (P>0.05) in the curative effect among the five groups. Pain being alleviated one day faster than in group E amounted to a saving of RMB 21.90 yuan in group A, a saving of RMB 21.87 yuan in group B, a saving of RMB 26.00 yuan in group C, and a saving of RMB 20.23 yuan in group D. Compared with group C, the values of ΔC/ΔE were RMB 1.55, 2.81, and 0.21 yuan in groups A, B, and D, respectively.ConclusionsThe curative effect in groups A, B, C, and D was similar to that in group E, but the C/E was better than in group E

(2-Anilino-4-methyl­thia­zol-5-yl)(4-chloro­phen­yl)methanone

The title compound, C17H13ClN2OS, crystallizes with three independent mol­ecules (A, B and C) in the asymmetric unit which differ slightly in their conformations. In mol­ecule A, the thiazole ring makes dihedral angles of 27.44 (14) and 66.05 (6)° with the phenyl and chloro­benzene rings. In mol­ecule B, the respective angles are 29.09 (10) and 47.63 (9)°, while values of 25.67 (11) and 51.01 (7)° are observed in mol­ecule C. In the crystal, N—H⋯N and N—H⋯O hydrogen bonds generate a three-dimensional network structure

Experimental Quantum Communication Overcomes the Rate-loss Limit without Global Phase Tracking

Secure key rate (SKR) of point-point quantum key distribution (QKD) is fundamentally bounded by the rate-loss limit. Recent breakthrough of twin-field (TF) QKD can overcome this limit and enables long distance quantum communication, but its implementation necessitates complex global phase tracking and requires strong phase references which not only add to noise but also reduce the duty cycle for quantum transmission. Here, we resolve these shortcomings, and importantly achieve even higher SKRs than TF-QKD, via implementing an innovative but simpler measurement-device-independent QKD which realizes repeater-like communication through asynchronous coincidence pairing. Over 413 and 508 km optical fibers, we achieve finite-size SKRs of 590.61 and 42.64 bit/s, which are respectively 1.80 and 4.08 times of their corresponding absolute rate limits. Significantly, the SKR at 306 km exceeds 5 kbit/s and meets the bitrate requirement for live one-time-pad encryption of voice communication. Our work will bring forward economical and efficient intercity quantum-secure networks.Comment: 29 pages, 10 figures, 3 table

Two variants on T2DM susceptible gene HHEX are associated with CRC risk in a Chinese population

Increasing amounts of evidence has demonstrated that T2DM (Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus) patients have increased susceptibility to CRC (colorectal cancer). As HHEX is a recognized susceptibility gene in T2DM, this work was focused on two SNPs in HHEX, rs1111875 and rs7923837, to study their association with CRC. T2DM patients without CRC (T2DM-only, n=300), T2DM with CRC (T2DM/CRC, n=135), cancer-free controls (Control, n=570), and CRC without T2DM (CRC-only, n=642) cases were enrolled. DNA samples were extracted from the peripheral blood leukocytes of the patients and sequenced by direct sequencing. The χ(2) test was used to compare categorical data. We found that in T2DM patients, rs1111875 but not the rs7923837 in HHEX gene was associated with the occurrence of CRC (p= 0.006). for rs1111875, TC/CC patients had an increased risk of CRC (p=0.019, OR=1.592, 95%CI=1.046-2.423). Moreover, our results also indicated that the two variants of HEEX gene could be risk factors for CRC in general population, independent on T2DM (p< 0.001 for rs1111875, p=0.001 for rs7923837). For rs1111875, increased risk of CRC was observed in TC or TC/CC than CC individuals (p<0.001, OR= 1.780, 95%CI= 1.385-2.287; p<0.001, OR= 1.695, 95%CI= 1.335-2.152). For rs7923837, increased CRC risk was observed in AG, GG, and AG/GG than AA individuals (p< 0.001, OR= 1.520, 95%CI= 1.200-1.924; p=0.036, OR= 1.739, 95%CI= 0.989-3.058; p< 0.001, OR= 1.540, 95%CI= 1.225-1.936). This finding highlights the potentially functional alteration with HHEX rs1111875 and rs7923837 polymorphisms may increase CRC susceptibility. Risk effects and the functional impact of these polymorphisms need further validation