An observation on spaces with a zeroset diagonal

summary:We say that a space $X$ has the discrete countable chain condition (DCCC for short) if every discrete family of nonempty open subsets of $X$ is countable. A space $X$ has a zeroset diagonal if there is a continuous mapping $f\colon X^2 \rightarrow [0,1]$ with $\Delta _X=f^{-1}(0)$, where $\Delta _X=\{(x,x)\colon x\in X\}$. In this paper, we prove that every first countable DCCC space with a zeroset diagonal has cardinality at most $\mathfrak c$

Antibacterial and Antioxidant Characteristics of Pigments and Coelomic Fluid of Sea Urchin, Echinodermata Mathaei Species, from the Persian Gulf

Background & Aims: Sea urchin immune responses are directly exposed to potentially pathogenic microorganisms and develop defence responses mainly based on immunocytes and humoral factors contained in the coelomic fluid. In addition, the polyhydroxylated 1, 4-naphthoquinone pigments are found to possess excellent antimicrobial, antialgal and antioxidant activities. The present research aimed to study the bioactive potentials (antioxidant, antibacterial and cytotoxic) of coelomic fluid and pigments shells and spines of sea urchin, Echinodermata mathaei species. Methods: The coelomic fluid and pigments shell and spine of sea urchin were isolated using buffered mode and hydrogen chloride (HCl), respectively. Then, antioxidant [reducing power, DPPH radical (1, 1-diphenyl 2-picryhydrazyl) scavenging, and total antioxidant capacity), antibacterial (minimum inhibitory concentration or MIC) and cytotoxic potentials were evaluated. Results: The free cells of the coelomic fluid had the highest activity in the all antioxidant methods, and the coelomocyte lysate had the highest antibacterial activity. All the differences were significant at the level of P < 0.05. Conclusion: The result of this research indicated that coelomic fluid and pigments shell and spine of sea urchin, Echinodermata mathaei species, have potent antioxidant activity and the ability for scavenging cytotoxic effects. This suggests that sea urchin shells and spines, most of which are discarded as waste after removal of gonads, would be a new bioresource for natural antioxidants. Keywords: Antioxidant, Antibacterial, Cytotoxic, Sea urchin, Echinometra mathae

A double neutron star merger origin for the cosmological relativistic fading source PTF11agg?

The Palomar Transient Factory (PTF) team recently reported the discovery of a rapidly fading optical transient source, PTF11agg. A long-lived scintillating radio counterpart was identified, but the search for a high energy counterpart showed negative results. The PTF team speculated that PTF11agg may represent a new class of relativistic outbursts. Here we suggest that a neutron star (NS)-NS merger system with a supra-massive magnetar central engine could be a possible source to power such a transient, if our line of sight is not on the jet axis direction of the system. These systems are also top candidates for gravitational wave sources to be detected in the advanced LIGO/Virgo era. We find that the PTF11agg data could be explained well with such a model, suggesting that at least some gravitational wave bursts due to NS-NS mergers may be associated with such a bright electromagnetic counterpart without a \gamma-ray trigger.Comment: Accepted for publication in ApJ Letter

Optimal Control Strategies in an Alcoholism Model

This paper presents a deterministic SATQ-type mathematical model (including susceptible, alcoholism, treating, and quitting compartments) for the spread of alcoholism with two control strategies to gain insights into this increasingly concerned about health and social phenomenon. Some properties of the solutions to the model including positivity, existence and stability are analyzed. The optimal control strategies are derived by proposing an objective functional and using Pontryagin’s Maximum Principle. Numerical simulations are also conducted in the analytic results

Data Placement for Privacy-Aware Applications over Big Data in Hybrid Clouds

Nowadays, a large number of groups choose to deploy their applications to cloud platforms, especially for the big data era. Currently, the hybrid cloud is one of the most popular computing paradigms for holding the privacy-aware applications driven by the requirements of privacy protection and cost saving. However, it is still a challenge to realize data placement considering both the energy consumption in private cloud and the cost for renting the public cloud services. In view of this challenge, a cost and energy aware data placement method, named CEDP, for privacy-aware applications over big data in hybrid cloud is proposed. Technically, formalized analysis of cost, access time, and energy consumption is conducted in the hybrid cloud environment. Then a corresponding data placement method is designed to accomplish the cost saving for renting the public cloud services and energy savings for task execution within the private cloud platforms. Experimental evaluations validate the efficiency and effectiveness of our proposed method

Methological quality of systematic reviews and meta-analyses on acupuncture for stroke: a review of review

Objective: To assess the methodological quality of systematic reviews and meta-analyses regarding acupuncture intervention for stroke and the primary studies within them. Methods: Two researchers searched PubMed, Cumulative index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature, Embase, ISI Web of Knowledge, Cochrane, Allied and Complementary Medicine, Ovid Medline, Chinese Biomedical Literature Database, China National Knowledge Infrastructure, Wanfang and Traditional Chinese Medical Database to identify systematic reviews and meta-analyses about acupuncture for stroke published from the inception to December 2016. Review characteristics and the criteria for assessing the primary studies within reviews were extracted. The methodological quality of the reviews was assessed using adapted Oxman and Guyatt Scale. The methodological quality of primary studies was also assessed. Results: Thirty-two eligible reviews were identified, 15 in English and 17 in Chinese. The English reviews were scored higher than the Chinese reviews (P=0.025), especially in criteria for avoiding bias and the scope of search. All reviews used the quality criteria to evaluate the methodological quality of primary studies, but some criteria were not comprehensive. The primary studies, in particular the Chinese reviews, had problems with randomization, allocation concealment, blinding, dropouts and withdrawals, intent-to-treat analysis and adverse events. Conclusions: Important methodological flaws were found in Chinese systematic reviews and primary studies. It was necessary to improve the methodological quality and reporting quality of both the systematic reviews published in China and primary studies on acupuncture for stroke

A Genome-Wide Association Study Identifies Two Novel Promising Candidate Genes Affecting Escherichia coli F4ab/F4ac Susceptibility in Swine

Enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli (ETEC) expressing F4 fimbria is the major pathogenic bacteria causing diarrhoea in neonatal and post-weaning piglets. Previous studies have revealed that the susceptibility to ETEC F4ab/F4ac is an autosomal Mendelian dominant trait and the loci controlling the F4ab/F4ac receptor are located on SSC13q41, between markers SW207 and S0283. To pinpoint these loci and further validate previous findings, we performed a genome-wide association study (GWAS) using a two generation family-based population, consisting of 301 piglets with phenotypes of susceptibility to ETEC F4ab/F4ac by the vitro adhesion test. The DNA of all piglets and their parents was genotyped using the Illumina PorcineSNP60 BeadChip, and 50,972 and 50,483 SNPs were available for F4ab and F4ac susceptibility, respectively, in the association analysis after quality control. In summary, 28 and 18 significant SNPs (p<0.05) were detected associated with F4ab and F4ac susceptibility respectively at genome-wide significance level. From these significant findings, two novel candidate genes, HEG1 and ITGB5, were firstly identified as the most promising genes underlying F4ab/F4ac susceptibility in swine according to their functions and positions. Our findings herein provide a novel evidence for unravelling genetic mechanism of diarrhoea risk in piglets