Cooperative Jamming and Relay Selection for Covert Communications

This paper investigates the covert communications via cooperative jamming and relay selection in a wireless relay system, where a source intends to transmit a message to its destination with the help of a selected relay, and a warden attempts to detect the existence of wireless transmissions from both the source and relay, while friendly jammers send jamming signals to prevent warden from detecting the transmission process. To this end, we first propose two relay selection schemes, namely random relay selection (RRS) and max-min relay selection (MMRS), as well as their corresponding cooperative jamming (CJ) schemes for ensuring covertness in the system. We then provide theoretical modeling for the covert rate performance under each relay selection scheme and its CJ scheme and further explore the optimal transmit power controls of both the source and relay for covert rate maximization. Finally, extensive simulation/numerical results are presented to validate our theoretical models and also to illustrate the covert rate performance of the relay system under cooperative jamming and relay selection

Gradient high performance liquid chromatography method for simultaneous determination of ilaprazole and its related impurities in commercial tablets

AbstractA methodology (HPLC) proposed in this paper for simultaneously quantitative determination of ilaprazole and its related impurities in commercial tablets was developed and validated. The chromatographic separation was carried out by gradient elution using an Agilent C8 column (4.6 mm × 250 mm, 5 μm) which was maintained at 25 °C. The mobile phase composed of solvent A (methanol) and solvent B (solution consisting 0.02 mmol/l monopotassium phosphate and 0.025 mmol/l sodium hydroxide) was at a flow rate of 1.0 ml/min. The samples were detected and quantified at 237 nm using an ultraviolet absorbance detector. Calibration curves of all analytes from 0.5 to 3.5 μg/ml were good linearity (r ≥ 0.9990) and recovery was greater than 99.5% for each analyte. The lower limit of detection (LLOD) and quantification (LOQ) of this analytical method were 10 ng/ml and 25 ng/ml for all impurities, respectively. The stress studies indicated that the degradation products could not interfere with the detection of ilaprazole and its related impurities and the assay can thus be considered stability-indicating. The method precisions were in the range of 0.41–1.21 while the instrument precisions were in the range of 0.38–0.95 in terms of peak area RSD% for all impurities, respectively. This method is considered stability-indicating and is applicable for accurate and simultaneous measuring of the ilaprazole and its related impurities in commercial enteric-coated tablets

Research on Influence of Clopidogrel on Life Quality in Patients with Transient Ischemic Attack and its Influencing Factors

Purpose: To analyze the basic situation and health related quality of life (HRQOL) results of patients with transient ischemic attack (TIA), and to study the influencing factors of health related quality of life in patients receiving clopidogrel. Method: Divide the TIA patients into clopidogrel group, aspirin group and untreated group. Measure HRQOL scores of TIA patients using the short form 36 questionnaire (SF-36) scale and analyze influencing factors of HRQOL with one-way ANOVA and multivariate stepwise linear regression statistical methods. Results: The differences of HRQOL scores among three groups are of statistical significance (F = 4.29, P = 0.00). There is no difference in HRQOL score between clopidogrel group and aspirin group (t = 5.35, P = 0.00), but HRQOL scores of clopidogrel group and aspirin group are higher than those of the untreated group (t = 6.14, P = 0.00; t = 5.16, P = 0.00). The HRQOL scores of clopidogrel group are positively correlated with diet, exercise, gender and family harmony (P < 0.05), but negatively correlated with diabetes, hypertension, smoking, drinking, hyperlipidemia, age, career and ABCD2 score (P < 0.05). Conclusion: TIA patients who received secondary prevention with clopidogrel and aspirin show better life quality results than those who did not. There were many factors influencing clopidogrel's treatment effect. Paying attention to middle-aged and elderly, the obese, mental workers and female TIA patients, teach TIA patients to quit smoking, drinking and eating low-salt and low-fat food, actively treating their hypertension, hyperlipidemia and diabetes and laying emphasis on psychological counseling and exercise can significantly improve the treatment effect of clopidogrel.

Characterization of stress degradation products of curcumin and its two derivatives by UPLC–DAD–MS/MS

AbstractCurcumin and its two derivatives of PB-3 and DY-1 were subjected to the forced degradation studies under the conditions of hydrolysis (acidic and alkaline), oxidation, photolysis, and thermal stress recommended by ICH Q1A (R2) by means of UPLC–DAD–MS/MS. Three analytes and their degradation products were separated on a column of ACQUITY UPLC®BEH C18 (100mm×2.1mm, 1.7μm) with an in-line filter prior to the column using acetonitrile and 10mM ammonium acetate buffer (pH adjusted to 3.5) as a mobile phase. Both curcumin and DY-1 showed extensive degradation under alkaline condition and gave rise to two degradation products for curcumin and three for DY-1, respectively, while no degradation product was observed under other tested conditions. PB-3 was found to be unstable in acid and alkaline conditions, two degradation products in acidic hydrolytic condition and one in alkaline condition were obtained, while it was stable in photolytic, oxidative and thermal stress conditions. The degradation products of three analytes were characterized as follows by analyzing the mass fragmentation patterns of curcumin and mass analysis of the degradation products: ferulic acid and vanillin for curcumin, 3-methoxyl-4-[3-(1-tetrahydropyrrolyl)propoxyl] benzoic aldehyde, 2,2-di-(1-phenylmethyl)-3-oxo-5-[3-methoxyl-4-(3-tetrahydropyrolylpropoxyl)] pent-4-enoic acid, and tetrapyrolyl propoxyl methoxyl phenyl prop-2-enoic acid for PB-3, 3-oxo-5-[4-hydroxyl-5-methoxyl-3-(1-morpholinylmethyl)] pent-4-enoic aldehyde, 3-oxo-5-(4-hydroxyl-5-methoxyl-3-(1-morpholinylmethyl)) pent-4-enoic acid and 2-hydroxyl-3-methoxyl-5-(7-(3-methoxyl-4-hydroxylphenyl)-3,5-dioxo-4,4-dimethyl hept-1,6-dienyl) benzoic acid for DY-1, respectively. The degradation pathways of curcumin and its derivatives were presented in addition

Stability Analysis and Design of Time-Varying Nonlinear Systems Based on Impulsive Fuzzy Model

This paper develops a general analysis and design theory for nonlinear time-varying systems represented by impulsive T-S fuzzy control model, which extends conventional T-S fuzzy model. In the proposed, model impulse is viewed as control input of T-S model, and impulsive distance is the major controller to be designed. Several criteria on general stability, asymptotic stability, and exponential stability are established, and a simple design algorithm is provided with stability of nonlinear time-invariant systems. Finally, the numerical simulation for the predator-prey system with functional response and impulsive effects verify the effectiveness of the proposed methods

Evidence for the contribution of COMT gene Val158/108Met polymorphism (rs4680) to working memory training-related prefrontal plasticity.

BackgroundGenetic factors have been suggested to affect the efficacy of working memory training. However, few studies have attempted to identify the relevant genes.MethodsIn this study, we first performed a randomized controlled trial (RCT) to identify brain regions that were specifically affected by working memory training. Sixty undergraduate students were randomly assigned to either the adaptive training group (N&nbsp;=&nbsp;30) or the active control group (N&nbsp;=&nbsp;30). Both groups were trained for 20 sessions during 4&nbsp;weeks and received fMRI scans before and after the training. Afterward, we combined the data from the 30 participants in the RCT study who received adaptive training with data from 71 additional participants who also received the same adaptive training but were not part of the RCT study (total N&nbsp;=&nbsp;101) to test the contribution of the COMT Val158/108Met polymorphism to the interindividual difference in the training effect within the identified brain regions.ResultsIn the RCT study, we found that the adaptive training significantly decreased brain activation in the left prefrontal cortex (TFCE-FWE corrected p&nbsp;=&nbsp;.030). In the genetic study, we found that compared with the Val allele homozygotes, the Met allele carriers' brain activation decreased more after the training at the left prefrontal cortex (TFCE-FWE corrected p&nbsp;=&nbsp;.025).ConclusionsThis study provided evidence for the neural effect of a visual-spatial span training and suggested that genetic factors such as the COMT Val158/108Met polymorphism may have to be considered in future studies of such training

Synthesis of carbon-11-labeled 5-HT6R antagonists as new candidate PET radioligands for imaging of Alzheimer’s disease

Carbon-11-labeled serotonin (5-hydroxytryptamine) 6 receptor (5-HT6R) antagonists, 1-[(2-bromophenyl)sulfonyl]-5-[11C]methoxy-3-[(4-methyl-1-piperazinyl)methyl]-1H-indole (O-[11C]2a) and 1-[(2-bromophenyl)sulfonyl]-5-methoxy-3-[(4-[11C]methyl-1-piperazinyl)methyl]-1H-indole (N-[11C]2a), 5-[11C]methoxy-3-((4-methylpiperazin-1-yl)methyl)-1-(phenylsulfonyl)-1H-indole (O-[11C]2b) and 5-methoxy-3-((4-[11C]methylpiperazin-1-yl)methyl)-1-(phenylsulfonyl)-1H-indole (N-[11C]2b), 1-((4-isopropylphenyl)sulfonyl)-5-[11C]methoxy-3-((4-methylpiperazin-1-yl)methyl)-1H-indole (O-[11C]2c) and 1-((4-isopropylphenyl)sulfonyl)-5-methoxy-3-((4-[11C]methylpiperazin-1-yl)methyl)-1H-indole (N-[11C]2c), 1-((4-fluorophenyl)sulfonyl)-5-[11C]methoxy-3-((4-methylpiperazin-1-yl)methyl)-1H-indole (O-[11C]2d) and 1-((4-fluorophenyl)sulfonyl)-5-methoxy-3-((4-[11C]methylpiperazin-1-yl)methyl)-1H-indole (N-[11C]2d), were prepared from their O- or N-desmethylated precursors with [11C]CH3OTf through O- or N-[11C]methylation and isolated by HPLC combined with SPE in 40–50% radiochemical yield, based on [11C]CO2 and decay corrected to end of bombardment (EOB). The radiochemical purity was >99%, and the molar activity (MA) at EOB was 370–740 GBq/μmol with a total synthesis time of ∼40-min from EOB