Convex Optimization and Array Orientation Diversity-Based Sparse Array Beampattern Synthesis

The sparse array pattern synthesis (APS) has many important implications in some special situations where the weights, size, and cost of antennas are limited. In this chapter, the APS with a minimum number of elements problem is investigated from the perspective of sparseness constrained optimization. Firstly, to reduce the number of antenna elements in the array, the APS problem is formulated as sparseness constrained optimization problem under compressive sensing (CS) framework and solved by using the reweighted L1-norm minimization algorithm. Besides, to address left-right radiation pattern ambiguity problem, the proposed algorithm exploits the array orientation diversity in the sparsity constraint framework. Simulation results demonstrate the proposed method’s validity of achieving the desired radiation beampattern with the minimum number of antenna elements

Global quark polarization in non-central A+AA+A collisions

Partons produced in the early stage of non-central heavy-ion collisions can develop a longitudinal fluid shear because of unequal local number densities of participant target and projectile nucleons. Under such fluid shear, local parton pairs with non-vanishing impact parameter have finite local relative orbital angular momentum along the direction opposite to the reaction plane. Such finite relative orbital angular momentum among locally interacting quark pairs can lead to global quark polarization along the same direction due to spin-orbital coupling. Local longitudinal fluid shear is estimated within both Landau fireball and Bjorken scaling model of initial parton production. Quark polarization through quark-quark scatterings with the exchange of a thermal gluon is calculated beyond small-angle scattering approximation in a quark-gluon plasma. The polarization is shown to have a non-monotonic dependence on the local relative orbital angular momentum dictated by the interplay between electric and magnetic interaction. It peaks at a value of relative orbital angular momentum which scales with the magnetic mass of the exchanged gluons. With the estimated small longitudinal fluid shear in semi-peripheral $Au+Au$ collisions at the RHIC energy, the final quark polarization is found to be small $|P_q|<0.04$ in the weak coupling limit. Possible behavior of the quark polarization in the strong coupling limit and implications on the experimental detection of such global quark polarization at RHIC and LHC are also discussed.Comment: 28 pages,11 figure

3′,6′-Bis(diethyl­amino)-2-[(E)-2-(4-hy­droxy-3-meth­oxy­benzyl­idene­amino)­eth­yl]spiro­[isoindoline-1,9′-xanthen]-3-one ethanol monosolvate

In the title compound, C38H42N4O4·C2H6O, prepared via a spiro­lactam ring-formation reaction in a rhodamine dye, the xanthene ring system is approximately planar (r.m.s. deviation = 0.0014Å) and subtends dihedral angles of 88.10 (3) and 86.92 (4)° with the spiro­lactam (r.m.s. deviations = 0.0012 Å) and benzene rings, respectively. The crystal structure consists of chains parallel to [-101], formed via O—H⋯O inter­actions

Cloning and characterization of functional keratinassociated protein 5-4 gene in maize

Keratin-associated proteins (KAPs) 5-4 which belongs to keratin-associated protein (KRTAP) type 5 family has two major groups: high/ultrahigh cysteine (HS) and high glycine-tyrosine (HGT). Based on bioinformatic prediction, we experimentally cloned a fragment containingan open reading frame of 1849 bp from maize, which encodes a protein of 408 amino acids. BLAST analysis indicated that KAP5-4 is homologous to the qPE9-1 protein in rice. Conserved domains analysis predicted the presence of five domains. Real time reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) indicated that the expression of this gene is up-regulated in response to water-deficit stress in the root and leaf.Keywords: Maize, keratin-associated protein 5-4, water-deficit stress.African Journal of Biotechnology Vol. 11(29), pp. 7417-7423, 10 April, 201

A new approach to bulk viscosity in strange quark matter at high densities

A new method is proposed to compute the bulk viscosity in strange quark matter at high densities. Using the method it is straightforward to prove that the bulk viscosity is positive definite, which is not so easy to accomplish in other approaches especially for multi-component fluids like strange quark matter with light up and down quarks and massive strange quarks.Comment: 7pages, talk given in SQM2008. Minor revisions, including clarification and updated reference

Association between NR5A2 and the risk of pancreatic cancer, especially among Caucasians: a meta-analysis of case-control studies

Background: Previous studies have reported that nuclear receptor subfamily 5, group A, member 2 (NR5A2) polymorphisms (rs3790843 G>A, rs3790844 T>C, rs12029406 C>T) are associated with the risk of pancreatic cancer. However, the results of epidemiological investigations are still controversial. In order to explore its potential attributing factors, we pooled the updated literatures to evaluate the association between NR5A2 polymorphism and the risk of pancreatic cancer in this meta-analysis. Materials and methods: Databases such as PubMed, Google Scholar and China National Knowledge Infrastructure were searched for eligible articles following strict inclusion and exclusion criteria (updated to November 18, 2017). Odds ratios (ORs) and 95% C Is were computed to assess the intensity of association. In addition, heterogeneity, sensitivity analysis and publication bias were explored. All statistical analyses were conducted by STATA 14.0. Results: Our results showed that the rs3790843 (GA vs GG: OR=0.86, CI=0.76-0.98, P=0.992;GA+AA vs GG: OR=0.83, CI=0.73-0.94, P=0.950;A vs G: OR=0.85, CI=0.78-0.93, P=0.802), rs3790844 (CC vs TT: OR=0.65, CI=0.54-0.78, P=0.617;CC vs TT+CT: OR=0.73, CI=0.62-0.85, P=0.742;C vs T: OR=0.78, CI=0.73-0.84, P=0.555) and rs12029406 (TT vs CC: OR=0.73, CI=0.61-0.89, P=0.483;TT vs CC+CT: OR=0.78, CI=0.66-0.92, P=0.648;T vs C: OR=0.87, CI=0.79-0.95, P=0.837) polymorphisms were associated statistically with the risk of pancreatic cancer. Furthermore, the results of subgroup analysis showed that rs3790843 and rs3790844 polymorphisms were especially related to the risk of pancreatic cancer in Caucasian population. Conclusion: Our results revealed that NR5A2 may have a protective effect on pancreatic cancer. However, more well-designed researches are needed to verify the relationship between NR5A2 polymorphisms and the risk of pancreatic cancer

Mapping the distribution of Anthrax in Mainland China, 2005-2013

Anthrax in China was characterized by significant seasonality and spatial clustering. The spatial distribution of human anthrax was largely driven by livestock husbandry, human density, land cover, elevation, topsoil features and climate. Enhanced surveillance and intervention for livestock and human anthrax in the high-risk regions, particularly on the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau, is the key to the prevention of human infections