Low Mass X-ray Binary As the Progenitor of PSR J1713+0747

We have calculated the evolution of low-mass X-ray binaries that leads to the formation of the binary radio pulsars like PSR J1713+0747. We show that the mass transfer is most likely to be nonconservative, due to unstable disk accretion, to account for the mass of PSR J1713+0747, which is close to its initial value. We assume that part of the lost material from the binary may form a circumbinary disk, and find that it can significantly influence the mass transfer processes. We briefly discuss the implications of the circumbinary disks on the evolution of low-mass X-ray binaries and the formation of low-mass binary pulsars.Comment: 8 pages, 4 figures, accepted for publication in PAS

Effective Treatment of Chronic Proliferative Cholangitis by Local Gentamicin Infusion in Rabbits

Background. Hepatolithiasis is highly prevalent in East Asia characterized by the presence of gallstones in the biliary ducts of the liver. Surgical resection is the potentially curative treatment but bears a high risk of stone recurrence and biliary restenosis. This is closely related to the universal presence of chronic proliferative cholangitis (CPC) in the majority of patients. Recent evidence has indicated the association of bacterial infection with the development of CPC in hepatolithiasis. Thus, this study aims to investigate the feasibility and efficacy of local infusion of gentamicin (an antibiotic) for the treatment of CPC in a rabbit model. Methods. The rabbit CPC model was established based on previously published protocols. Bile duct samples were collected from gentamicin-treated or control animals for pathological and molecular characterization. Results. Histologically, the hyperplasia of biliary epithelium and submucosal glands were inhibited and the thickness of the bile duct wall was significantly decreased after gentamicin therapy. Consistently, the percentage of proliferating cells marked by ki67 was significantly reduced by the treatment. More importantly, this treatment inhibited interleukin 2 production, an essential inflammatory cytokine, and the enzyme activity of endogenous β-Glucuronidase, a key factor in the formation of bile pigment. Conclusions. Local gentamicin infusion effectively inhibits the inflammation, cell proliferation, and lithogenesis in a rabbit model of CPC. This approach represents a potential treatment for CPC and thus prevents recurrent hepatolithiasis

Qwen Technical Report

Large language models (LLMs) have revolutionized the field of artificial intelligence, enabling natural language processing tasks that were previously thought to be exclusive to humans. In this work, we introduce Qwen, the first installment of our large language model series. Qwen is a comprehensive language model series that encompasses distinct models with varying parameter counts. It includes Qwen, the base pretrained language models, and Qwen-Chat, the chat models finetuned with human alignment techniques. The base language models consistently demonstrate superior performance across a multitude of downstream tasks, and the chat models, particularly those trained using Reinforcement Learning from Human Feedback (RLHF), are highly competitive. The chat models possess advanced tool-use and planning capabilities for creating agent applications, showcasing impressive performance even when compared to bigger models on complex tasks like utilizing a code interpreter. Furthermore, we have developed coding-specialized models, Code-Qwen and Code-Qwen-Chat, as well as mathematics-focused models, Math-Qwen-Chat, which are built upon base language models. These models demonstrate significantly improved performance in comparison with open-source models, and slightly fall behind the proprietary models.Comment: 59 pages, 5 figure

Directly Acting Oral Anticoagulants for the Prevention of Stroke in Atrial Fibrillation in England and Wales:Cost-Effectiveness Model and Value of Information Analysis

Objectives. Determine the optimal, licensed, first-line anticoagulant for prevention of ischemic stroke in patients with non-valvular atrial fibrillation (AF) in England and Wales from the UK National Health Service (NHS) perspective and estimate value to decision making of further research. Methods. We developed a cost-effectiveness model to compare warfarin (international normalized ratio target range 2–3) with directly acting (or non–vitamin K antagonist) oral anticoagulants (DOACs) apixaban 5 mg, dabigatran 150 mg, edoxaban 60 mg, and rivaroxaban 20 mg, over 30 years post treatment initiation. In addition to death, the 17-state Markov model included the events stroke, bleed, myocardial infarction, and intracranial hemorrhage. Input parameters were informed by systematic literature reviews and network meta-analysis. Expected value of perfect information (EVPI) and expected value of partial perfect information (EVPPI) were estimated to provide an upper bound on value of further research. Results. At willingness-topay threshold £20,000, all DOACs have positive expected incremental net benefit compared to warfarin, suggesting they are likely cost-effective. Apixaban has highest expected incremental net benefit (£7533), followed by dabigatran (£6365), rivaroxaban (£5279), and edoxaban (£5212). There was considerable uncertainty as to the optimal DOAC, with the probability apixaban has highest net benefit only 60%. Total estimated population EVPI was £17.94 million (17.85 million, 18.03 million), with relative effect between apixaban versus dabigatran making the largest contribution with EVPPI of £7.95 million (7.66 million, 8.24 million). Conclusions. At willingness-to-pay threshold £20,000, all DOACs have higher expected net benefit than warfarin but there is considerable uncertainty between the DOACs. Apixaban had the highest expected net benefit and greatest probability of having highest net benefit, but there is considerable uncertainty between DOACs. A head-to-head apixaban versus dabigatran trial may be of value

Analysis of various estimators for multi-dimensional Zakai equations

We first consider a one-dimensional stochastic partial differential equation (SPDE) of Zakai type describing a large credit portfolio. Specifically, we construct estimators of linear functionals of the solution from an implicit Milstein scheme on a space-time mesh. We compare the complexity of a multi-index Monte Carlo (MIMC) approach with the multilevel Monte Carlo (MLMC) method of Giles and Reisinger (2012), and find, by means of Fourier analysis, that the MIMC method has slightly improved complexity O(ε-2|log ε|) for a root mean square error (RMSE) ε if a carefully adapted discretisation is used. Then, we propose an implicit finite difference scheme for a two-dimensional parabolic SPDE of Zakai type, based on a Milstein approximation to the stochastic integral and an alternating direction implicit (ADI) discretisation of the elliptic term. We prove its mean-square stability and convergence in L2 of first order in time and second order in space, by Fourier analysis, in the presence of Dirac initial data. Next, we analyse the accuracy and computational complexity of estimators for linear functionals of the solution to the 2-d SPDE, coupled with the sparse combination technique and MLMC. We find, by detailed Fourier analysis, that for a RMSE ε, MLMC with sparse combination has the optimal complexity O(ε-2), whereas MLMC on regular grids has O(ε-2(log ε)2), standard MC with sparse combination O(ε-7/2(|log ε|)5/2), and MC on regular grids O(ε-4). We give a discussion of the higher-dimensional setting without detailed proofs, which suggests that MLMC with sparse combination always leads to the optimal complexity. Finally, we consider a particular two-dimensional SPDE with fast mean-reverting volatility on a timescale O(ε-1), and study the small ε asymptotics. We find an asymptotic expansion of the solution to the SPDE as ε → 0 and conclude from numerical experiments the convergence order 1=2 of the leading term and order 1 after inclusion of the first correction term.</p

Offset Detection of Grate Trolley’s Side Plate Based on YOLOv4

Side plate offset is one of the grate system faults. If it is not dealt with in time, some accidents will occur and economic losses will be made. Aiming at the problems like time-consuming, labour-wasting, and low intelligent by the side plate offset detection method manually, an autoside plate offset detection method is proposed, based on You Only Look Once version 4 (YOLOv4). Two cameras were fixed to collect the image information of the grate trolley’s side plate. With reference to the grate trolley’s operation, the offset judgment rules were set. YOLOv4 object detection algorithm was used to detect the side plate and trolley’s chassis frame in video frame images. A baseline was set according to the position information of the trolley’s chassis frame output by detection, and then, the position intervals between side plates and the baseline could be determined by calculation. According to the judgment rules, the scheme in this paper could detect the offset fault of the trolley’s side plate timely, and an alarm would be made automatically when faults are detected. Our video images of the trolley’s side plate were collected and sorted in Baogang Group sintering plant for testing. In this experiment, no error judgment was made, and the average detection and judgment time was 0.024 s. In this paper, rather than manually, the real-time automatic detection was realized to detect the offset fault of the trolley’s side plate so as to provide a new solution for offset detection of the grate trolley’s side plate

Application of UAV Photogrammetric System for Monitoring Ancient Tree Communities in Beijing

Ancient tree community surveys have great scientific value to the study of biological resources, plant distribution, environmental change, genetic characteristics of species, and historical and cultural heritage. The largest ancient pear tree communities in China, which are rare, are located in the Daxing District of Beijing. However, the environmental conditions are tough, and the distribution is relatively dispersed. Therefore, a low-cost, high-efficiency, and high-precision measuring system is urgently needed to complete the survey of ancient tree communities. By unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) photogrammetric program research, ancient tree information extraction method research, and ancient tree diameter at breast height (DBH) and age prediction model research, the proposed method can realize the measurement of tree height, crown width, and prediction of DBH and tree age with low cost, high efficiency, and high precision. Through experiments and analysis, the root mean square error (RMSE) of the tree height measurement was 0.1814 m, the RMSE of the crown width measurement was 0.3292 m, the RMSE of the DBH prediction was 3.0039 cm, and the RMSE of the tree age prediction was 4.3753 years, which could meet the needs of ancient tree survey of the Daxing District Gardening and Greening Bureau. Therefore, a UAV photogrammetric measurement system proved to be capable when applied in the survey of ancient tree communities and even in partial forest inventories