A New Phase Transition Related to the Black Hole's Topological Charge

The topological charge $\epsilon$ of AdS black hole is introduced in Ref.[1,2], where a complete thermodynamic first law is obtained. In this paper, we investigate a new phase transition related to the topological charge in Einstein-Maxwell theory. Firstly, we derive the explicit solutions corresponding to the divergence of specific heat $C_{\epsilon}$ and determine the phase transition critical point. Secondly, the $T-r$ curve and $T-S$ curve are investigated and they exhibit an interesting van der Waals system's behavior. Critical physical quantities are also obtained which are consistent with those derived from the specific heat analysis. Thirdly, a van der Waals system's swallow tail behavior is observed when $\epsilon>\epsilon_{c}$ in the $F-T$ graph. What's more, the analytic phase transition coexistence lines are obtained by using the Maxwell equal area law and free energy analysis, the results of which are consistent with each other.Comment: 11 pages, 5 figure

Attractive Interaction between Vortex and Anti-vortex in Holographic Superfluid

Annihilation process of a pair of vortices in holographic superfluid is numerically simulated. The process is found to consist of two stages which are amazingly separated by vortex size $2r$. The separation distance $\delta(t)$ between vortex and anti-vortex as a function of time is well fitted by $\alpha (t_{0}-t)^{n}$, where the scaling exponent $n=1/2$ for $\delta (t)>2r$, and $n=2/5$ for $\delta(t)<2r$. Then the approaching velocity and acceleration as functions of time and as functions of separation distance are obtained. Thus the attractive force between vortex and anti-vortex is derived as $f(\delta)\propto 1/\delta^{3}$ for the first stage, and $f(\delta)\propto 1/\delta^{4}$ for the second stage. In the end, we explained why the annihilation rate of vortices in turbulent superfluid system obeys the two-body decay law when the vortex density is low.Comment: 14 pages, 5 figure

Mobility of TX100 suspended multiwalled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) and the facilitated transport of phenanthrene in real soil columns

AbstractThe transport behavior of TX100 suspended multiwalled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) through different soil columns as well as their effects on the mobility of phenanthrene was systematically studied. Results showed that the mobility of MWCNTs varied with soils, which was found to be correlated positively to the average soil particle diameters and soil sand contents, while correlated negatively to soil clay contents. The retention of MWCNTs on soil columns is most likely due to surface deposition and physical straining. Co-transport of phenanthrene with MWCNTs was tested in three selected soils (soil HB, DX and BJ), where MWCNTs could act as carriers of phenanthrene and enhance the mobility of phenanthrene in soils. However, during passing through the soil columns phenanthrene initially adsorbed onto MWCNTs could be partially “stripped” off. In soil with the lowest phenanthrene sorption affinity and highest water velocity (soil HB), only 8.5% phenanthrene was desorbed during transport, suggesting that a strong MWCNT-associated phenanthrene mobile may occur in this soil. More than 80% of phenanthrene was stripped off in soils with higher sorption affinity (soil DX and BJ), indicating the limitation of the co-transport of phenanthrene and MWCNTs in such soils

Pelvic Ultrasound in Diagnosing and Evaluating the Efficacy of Gonadotropin-Releasing Hormone Agonist Therapy in Girls With Idiopathic Central Precocious Puberty

Background and Objective: Idiopathic central precocious puberty (ICPP) is characterized by early pubertal changes, the acceleration of growth velocity, and rapid bone maturation that often results in reduced adult height. Gonadotrophin-releasing hormone agonist (GnRHa) is currently considered to be an effective therapeutic agent. At present, GnRH stimulation test is adopted as a gold standard for the diagnosis of ICPP and the efficacy evaluation of GnRHa therapy. However, it is difficult to operate in practice due to the cumbersome procedures and multiple blood samples required. This study was conducted to establish the value of pelvic ultrasound in diagnosing ICPP and evaluating the efficacy of GnRHa therapy.Materials and Methods: One hundred and twenty-two girls with ICPP (ICPP group) were enrolled in the study. Pelvic ultrasound and levels of luteinizing hormone (LH) and follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) were examined before and after GnRHa therapy for 3 months. Eighty normal prepubertal girls were enrolled as the control group. The difference in pelvic ultrasound parameters between the ICPP group before GnRHa therapy and the control group was compared by independent-sample t-test, while paired t-test for ICPP group before and after GnRHa therapy. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve was used to explore the optimal pelvic ultrasound parameters for diagnosing ICPP. Pearson correlation analysis was performed between the pelvic ultrasound parameters and serum sexual hormone level.Results: The pelvic ultrasound parameters (length of the uterine body, anteroposterior diameter of the uterine body, transverse diameter of the uterine body, volume of the uterine body, uterine body-cervix ratio, length of the ovary, transverse diameter of the ovary, anteroposterior diameter of the ovary, volume of the ovary, number of increased follicles and maximum diameter of the follicle) in the ICPP group before GnRHa therapy were significantly larger than those of the control group (P &lt; 0.05). All the above pelvic ultrasound parameters in the ICPP group were significantly decreased after GnRHa therapy compared with those before treatment (P &lt; 0.05). The volume of the uterine body had the largest area under the ROC curve in differentiating between patients with ICCP and the control group. Pelvic ultrasound parameters were significantly correlated with serum sexual hormone levels (P &lt; 0.05).Conclusion: This study indicates pelvic ultrasound is a simple and reliable tool to diagnose ICPP and evaluates the efficacy of GnRHa therapy by dynamically observing the morphology of internal genitalia. The volume of uterine body was the best ultrasound parameter to distinguish patients with ICPP from normal girls

Quantitative association of cerebral blood flow, relaxation times and proton density in young and middle-aged primary insomnia patients: A prospective study using three-dimensional arterial spin labeling and synthetic magnetic resonance imaging

ObjectivesTo quantitatively measure the T1 value, T2 value, proton density (PD) value, and cerebral blood flow (CBF) in young and middle-aged primary insomnia (PI) patients, and analyze the correlations between relaxation times, PD, and CBF to explore potential brain changes.MethodsCranial magnetic resonance (MR) images of 44 PI patients and 30 healthy subjects were prospectively collected for analysis. The T1, T2, PD, and CBF values of the frontal lobe, parietal lobe, temporal lobe, and occipital lobe were independently measured using three-dimensional arterial spin labeling (3D-ASL), synthetic magnetic resonance imaging (syMRI) and a whole-brain automatic segmentation method. The differences of these imaging indices were compared between PI patients and healthy subjects. Follow-up MR images were obtained from PI patients after 6 months to compare with pre-treatment images. The Wilcoxon signed rank test and Spearman rank were used for statistical analysis.ResultsBilateral CBF asymmetry was observed in 38 patients, with significant differences in both the T2 value and CBF between the four lobes of the brain (p &lt; 0.01). However, no significant difference was found in the T1 and PD values between the bilateral lobes. A negative correlation was found between CBF and T2 values in the right four lobes of patients with primary insomnia (PI). During follow-up examinations, five PI patients showed a disappearance of insomnia symptoms and a decrease in CBF in both brain lobes.ConclusionInsomnia symptoms may be associated with high CBF, and most PI patients have higher CBF and lower T2 values in the right cerebral hemispheres. The right hemisphere appears to play a critical role in the pathophysiology of PI. The 3D-ASL and syMRI technologies can provide a quantitative imaging basis for investigating the brain conditions and changes in young and middle-aged PI patients

Isolation and characterization of ZZ1, a novel lytic phage that infects Acinetobacter baumannii clinical isolates

BACKGROUND: Acinetobacter baumannii, a significant nosocomial pathogen, has evolved resistance to almost all conventional antimicrobial drugs. Bacteriophage therapy is a potential alternative treatment for multidrug-resistant bacterial infections. In this study, one lytic bacteriophage, ZZ1, which infects A. baumannii and has a broad host range, was selected for characterization. RESULTS: Phage ZZ1 and 3 of its natural hosts, A. baumanni clinical isolates AB09V, AB0902, and AB0901, are described in this study. The 3 strains have different sensitivities to ZZ1, but they have the same sensitivity to antibiotics. They are resistant to almost all of the antibiotics tested, except for polymyxin. Several aspects of the life cycle of ZZ1 were investigated using the sensitive strain AB09V under optimal growth conditions. ZZ1 is highly infectious with a short latent period (9 min) and a large burst size (200 PFU/cell). It exhibited the most powerful antibacterial activity at temperatures ranging from 35°C to 39°C. Moreover, when ZZ1 alone was incubated at different pHs and different temperatures, the phage was stable over a wide pH range (4 to 9) and at extreme temperatures (between 50°C and 60°C). ZZ1 possesses a 100-nm icosahedral head containing double-stranded DNA with a total length of 166,682 bp and a 120-nm long contractile tail. Morphologically, it could be classified as a member of the Myoviridae family and the Caudovirales order. Bioinformatic analysis of the phage whole genome sequence further suggested that ZZ1 was more likely to be a new member of the Myoviridae phages. Most of the predicted ORFs of the phage were similar to the predicted ORFs from other Acinetobacter phages. CONCLUSION: The phage ZZ1 has a relatively broad lytic spectrum, high pH stability, strong heat resistance, and efficient antibacterial potential at body temperature. These characteristics greatly increase the utility of this phage as an antibacterial agent; thus, it should be further investigated