An extension to the Brun-Titchmarsh theorem

The Siegel-Walfisz theorem states that for any B > 0, we have ∑/p≤x/p≡a(mod k) 1 ∼ x/φ(k) lox x for k ≤ log B x and (k, a) = 1. This only gives an asymptotic formula for the number of primes over an arithmetic progression for quite small moduli k compared with x. However, if we are only concerned about upper bound, we have the Brun-Titchmarsh theorem, namely for any 1 ≤ k 0, s ≥ 1 and 1 ≤ k < x.In particular, for s ≤ log log (x/k), we have ∑/y<n≤x+y ≡ a (mod k)ω (n) < s 1 ≪ x/φ (k) log (x/k) (log log (x/k) + K)s-1/(s-1)! √ log log (x/k) + K and for any ε∈(0, 1) and s ≤ (1-ε) log log (x/k), we have. ∑/y<n≤x+y ≡ a (mod k)ω (n) < s 1 ≪ ε-1x/φ (k) log (x/k) (log log (x/k) +K)s-1/(s-1) !. © 2010. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved.postprin

Surveillance of acute flaccid paralysis in Hong Kong: 1997 to 2002

Objectives. To describe the characteristics of patients reported with acute flaccid paralysis between 1997 and 2002, and to evaluate the performance of the acute flaccid paralysis surveillance system using indicators recommended by the World Health Organization. Design. Retrospective study. Setting. Department of Health, Hong Kong. Participants. Children aged younger than 15 years who were reported to the Department of Health between 1997 and 2002 with acute flaccid paralysis. Results. Of 120 children with acute flaccid paralysis reported between 1997 and 2002, 42% were younger than 5 years of age. None of the cases were acute poliomyelitis or polio-compatible. A neurological cause was identified in 67.5% of cases, of which the most common was Guillain-Barré syndrome (42%), followed by transverse myelitis (15%). All except one of the performance indicators consistently met World Health Organization requirements and thus demonstrated the effectiveness of the acute flaccid paralysis surveillance programme. The acute flaccid paralysis notification rate consistently exceeded 1.0 per 100 000 population below 15 years of age. The requirement for adequate stool investigation was the single indicator that did not satisfy World Health Organization requirements. This highlighted the importance of maintaining physicians' awareness of acute flaccid paralysis surveillance. Conclusion. Hong Kong should remain vigilant for acute flaccid paralysis. The effective surveillance system and its evaluation may serve as a model for surveillance of other infectious diseases.published_or_final_versio

Molecular Identification of Spirometra erinaceieuropaei Tapeworm in Cases of Human Sparganosis, Hong Kong

Human sparganosis is a foodborne zoonosis endemic in Asia. We report a series of 9 histologically confirmed human sparganosis cases in Hong Kong, China. All parasites were retrospectively identified as Spirometra erinaceieuropaei. Skin and soft tissue swelling was the most common symptom, followed by central nervous system lesions.published_or_final_versio

New Hepatitis E Virus Genotype in Bactrian Camels, Xinjiang, China, 2013

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"Thundery shower": a novel headache syndrome

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Breakup Temperature of Target Spectators in Au + Au Collisions at E/A = 1000 MeV

Breakup temperatures were deduced from double ratios of isotope yields for target spectators produced in the reaction Au + Au at 1000 MeV per nucleon. Pairs of $^{3,4}$He and $^{6,7}$Li isotopes and pairs of $^{3,4}$He and H isotopes (p, d and d, t) yield consistent temperatures after feeding corrections, based on the quantum statistical model, are applied. The temperatures rise with decreasing impact parameter from 4 MeV for peripheral to about 10 MeV for the most central collisions. The good agreement with the breakup temperatures measured previously for projectile spectators at an incident energy of 600 MeV per nucleon confirms the observed universality of the spectator decay at relativistic bombarding energies. The measured temperatures also agree with the breakup temperatures predicted by the statistical multifragmentation model. For these calculations a relation between the initial excitation energy and mass was derived which gives good simultaneous agreement for the fragment charge correlations. The energy spectra of light charged particles, measured at $\theta_{lab}$ = 150$^{\circ}$, exhibit Maxwellian shapes with inverse slope parameters much higher than the breakup temperatures. The statistical multifragmentation model, because Coulomb repulsion and sequential decay processes are included, yields light-particle spectra with inverse slope parameters higher than the breakup temperatures but considerably below the measured values. The systematic behavior of the differences suggests that they are caused by light-charged-particle emission prior to the final breakup stage. PACS numbers: 25.70.Mn, 25.70.Pq, 25.75.-qComment: 29 pages, TeX with 11 included figures; Revised version accepted for publication in Z. Phys. A Two additional figure

Overexpression of hepatoma-derived growth factor in melanocytes does not lead to oncogenic transformation

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>HDGF is a growth factor which is overexpressed in a wide range of tumors. Importantly, expression levels were identified as a prognostic marker in some types of cancer such as melanoma.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>To investigate the presumed oncogenic/transforming capacity of HDGF, we generated transgenic mice overexpressing HDGF in melanocytes. These mice were bred with mice heterozygous for a defective copy of the Ink4a tumor suppressor gene and were exposed to UV light to increase the risk for tumor development both genetically and physiochemically. Mice were analyzed by immunohistochemistry and Western blotting. Furthermore, primary melanocytes were isolated from different strains created.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Transgenic animals overexpressed HDGF in hair follicle melanocytes. Interestingly, primary melanocytes isolated from transgenic animals were not able to differentiate <it>in vitro </it>whereas cells isolated from wild type and HDGF-deficient animals were. Although, HDGF^-/-/Ink4a^+/-mice displayed an increased number of epidermoid cysts after exposure to UV light, no melanomas or premelanocytic alterations could be detected in this mouse model.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>The results therefore provide no evidence that HDGF has a transforming capacity in tumor development. Our results in combination with previous findings point to a possible role in cell differentiation and suggest that HDGF promotes tumor progression after secondary upregulation and may represent another protein fitting into the concept of non-oncogene addiction of tumor tissue.</p

RingCT 2.0: A Compact Accumulator-Based (Linkable Ring Signature) Protocol for Blockchain Cryptocurrency Monero

In this work, we initially study the necessary properties and security requirements of Ring Confidential Transaction (RingCT) protocol deployed in the popular anonymous cryptocurrency Monero. Firstly, we formalize the syntax of RingCT protocol and present several formal security definitions according to its application in Monero. Based on our observations on the underlying (linkable) ring signature and commitment schemes, we then put forward a new efficient RingCT protocol (RingCT 2.0), which is built upon the well-known Pedersen commitment, accumulator with one-way domain and signature of knowledge (which altogether perform the functions of a linkable ring signature). Besides, we show that it satisfies the security requirements if the underlying building blocks are secure in the random oracle model. In comparison with the original RingCT protocol, our RingCT 2.0 protocol presents a significant space saving, namely, the transaction size is independent of the number of groups of input accounts included in the generalized ring while the original RingCT suffers a linear growth with the number of groups, which would allow each block to process more transactions

Measurement of cosmic-ray muons and muon-induced neutrons in the Aberdeen Tunnel Underground Laboratory

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An apparatus for studying spallation neutrons in the Aberdeen Tunnel laboratory

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