Effects of degree distribution in mutual synchronization of neural networks

We study the effects of the degree distribution in mutual synchronization of two-layer neural networks. We carry out three coupling strategies: large-large coupling, random coupling, and small-small coupling. By computer simulations and analytical methods, we find that couplings between nodes with large degree play an important role in the synchronization. For large-large coupling, less couplings are needed for inducing synchronization for both random and scale-free networks. For random coupling, cutting couplings between nodes with large degree is very efficient for preventing neural systems from synchronization, especially when subnetworks are scale-free.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figure

Assessing the genetic diversity of cultivars and wild soybeans using SSR markers

Increasing the diversity of the soybean germplasm base could introduce new genes affecting agronomic traits. In this study, we demonstrated the differences of genetic diversity level among 40 soybean accessions of cultivars, landraces and wild soybeans collected in the Shanxi Agricultural University using 40 simple sequence repeat (SSR) primer pairs. The structure based on model result showed that the cultivars, landraces and wild soybeans could be divided into three groups. Comparison of three types of soybeans showed that wild soybeans and landraces showed higher genetic diversity level than cultivars. The average genetic diversity index of wild soybeans and landraces was 1.5421 and 1.2864, while that of cultivars was 1.0981. A total number of alleles in wild soybeans were 224, while those in cultivars and landraces were 182 and 148, respectively, which were 81.25 and 66.07% of wild soybeans. The higher genetic distance (0.6414) and genetic differentiation (0.1200) and the lower genetic identity (0.5265) and gene flow (1.8338) between wild soybeans and cultivars were found. The proportion of low frequency alleles (allele frequency < 0.15) was the highest in wild soybeans (57.5%), followed by landraces (42%) and cultivars (29.8%). The UPGMA results also showed that wide soybean were of more abundant genetic diversity than cultivars. These results indicated that wild soybeans and landraces possessed greater allelic diversity than cultivars and might contain alleles not present in the cultivars which can strengthen further conservation and utilization.Key words: Soybean, simple sequence repeat, genetic diversity

General theory of decoy-state quantum cryptography with source errors

The existing theory of decoy-state quantum cryptography assumes the exact control of each states from Alice's source. Such exact control is impossible in practice. We develop the theory of decoy-state method so that it is unconditionally secure even there are state errors of sources, if the range of a few parameters in the states are known. This theory simplifies the practical implementation of the decoy-state quantum key distribution because the unconditional security can be achieved with a slightly shortened final key, even though the small errors of pulses are not corrected.Comment: Our results can be used securely for any source of diagonal states, including the Plug-&-Play protocol with whatever error pattern, if we know the ranges of errors of a few parameter

Enhancement of polarization in a spin-orbit coupling quantum wire with a constriction

We investigate the enhancement of spin polarization in a quantum wire in the presence of a constriction and a spin-orbit coupling segment. It is shown that the spin-filtering effect is significantly heightened in comparison with the configuration without the constriction. It is understood in the studies that the constriction structure plays a critical role in enhancing the spin filtering by means of confining the incident electrons to occupy one channel only while the outgoing electrons occupy two channels. The enhancement of spin-filtering has also been analyzed within the perturbation theory. Because the spin polarization arises mainly from the scattering between the constriction and the segment with spin-orbit coupling, the sub-band mixing induced by spin-orbit interaction in the scattering process and the interferences result in higher spin-filtering effect.Comment: 8 pages, 7 figure

Study on the collision-mechanical properties of tomatoes gripped by harvesting robot fingers

The data of collision-mechanical property of tomatoes gripped by robot fingers are important for the gripping control of tomato harvesting robot. In the study, tests of controlling the fingers to grip tomatoes were conducted to ascertain the effects of input current, motor speed and impact positions on the impact force of fingers and maximum deformation of tomatoes. The input current of the motor ranged from 1200 to 2100 mA, the motor speed from 25 to 3000 rpm and the three impact positions as follows, 1 (radial arm), 2 (sloping at an angle of 22.5° to the radial arm) and 3 (sloping at an angle of 45° to the radial arm). The results shown that under the condition of the same motor speed and inputcurrent, the peak impact force on the radial arm, compared with other impact positions, was maximum, the deformation of tomato was the smallest and the degree of mechanical damage was the lowest too.Under different speed and input current conditions, when the fingers grip the tomato on the radial arm, the peak force of fingers and the maximum deformation of tomatoes were highly influenced by the motor speed and input current, especially the input current. The peak impact force and the maximum deformation of the tomato increased respectively with increase in the motor speed and input current and these followed cubic polynomial regression equations

Semi-leptonic and Non-leptonic BB meson decays to charmed mesons

We study the semi-leptonic and non-leptonic $B$ weak decays which are governed by the $B\rightarrow D^{(*)}$ transitions. The branching ratios, CP asymmetries (CPA) and polarization fractions (FA) of non-leptonic decays are investigated in the factorization approximation. The $B\rightarrow D^{(*)}$ form factors are estimated in the Salpeter method. Our estimation on branching ratios generally agree with the existent experimental data. For CPA and polarizations, comparisons among the FA results, the perturbative QCD predictions and experimental data are made.Comment: 8 pages, 1 figures, 5 table

Zb(10610)±Z_b(10610)^\pm and Zb(10650)±Z_b(10650)^\pm as the B∗BˉB^*\bar{B} and B∗Bˉ∗B^*\bar{B}^{*} molecular states

In the framework of the one-boson-exchange model, we have studied the interaction of the $B^*\bar{B}$ and $B^*\bar{B}^{*}$ system. After considering the S-wave and D-wave mixing, we notice that both $Z_b(10610)^\pm$ and $Z_b(10650)^\pm$ can be interpreted as the $B^*\bar{B}$ and $B^*\bar{B}^{*}$ molecular states quite naturally. Within the same framework, there also exist several molecular charmonia including X(3872) and several other molecular bottomonia, which are the partners of $Z_b(10610)$ and $Z_b(10650)$. The long-range one-pion-exchange force alone is strong enough to form these loosely bound molecular states, which ensures the numerical results quite model-independent and robust.Comment: 11 pages, 6 table

Implications of new-onset atrial fibrillation on in-hospital and long-term prognosis of patients with acute myocardial infarction:A report from the CBD bank study

BACKGROUND: An increase in the incidence of atrial fibrillation (AF) during the acute phase of myocardial infarction (AMI) has been observed. But it is still unclear whether the implications of new-onset AF on in-hospital and long-term prognosis are of similar magnitude. METHODS: Using data from the CBD Bank study, 3,824 consecutive AMI patients, without prior AF, were analyzed. During the index hospitalization, all patients were monitored by continuous cardiac monitoring, twice daily performed 12- or 18-lead ECGs and timely ECG checks when cardiac symptoms occurred. Follow-up visits were routinely scheduled after discharge. Primary outcomes were all-cause death and cardiovascular death occurring during hospitalization and long-term follow-up. Secondary outcome was MACEs during hospitalization. RESULTS: During the median hospital stay of 9.0 (7.0, 11.0) days, new-onset AF was documented in 133 (3.48%) patients; 95 (71.43%) patients had AF attacks within 3 days following AMI. Independent risk factors associated with new-onset AF were older age, larger left atrial diameter, higher level of NT-proBNP, and primary PCI. New-onset AF was found to be significantly associated with in-hospital all-cause death (OR 4.33, 95%CI: 2.37-7.89, P < 0.001), cardiovascular death (OR 4.10, 95%CI: 2.18-7.73, P < 0.001), and MACEs (OR 2.51, 95%CI: 1.46-4.33, P = 0.001). A total of 112 new-onset AF and 3,338 non-AF patients were followed up for 1,090 (365, 1,694) days after discharge. There was no significant association between new-onset AF and long-term all-cause death (HR 1.21, 95%CI: 0.77-1.92, P = 0.406) or cardiovascular death (HR 1.09, 95%CI: 0.61-1.97, P = 0.764). CONCLUSION: New-onset AF following AMI is strongly associated with an increased risk of adverse in-hospital prognosis, but it does not affect prognosis in those who survive until hospital discharge

Enhanced Virus-Specific CD8\u3csup\u3e+\u3c/sup\u3e T Cell Responses by Listeria Monocytogenes-Infected Dendritic Cells in the Context of Tim-3 Blockade

In this study, we engineered Listeria monocytogens (Lm) by deleting the LmΔactA/ΔinlB virulence determinants and inserting HCV-NS5B consensus antigens to develop a therapeutic vaccine against hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection. We tested this recombinant Lm-HCV vaccine in triggering of innate and adaptive immune responses in vitro using immune cells from HCV-infected and uninfected individuals. This live-attenuated Lm-HCV vaccine could naturally infect human dendritic cells (DC), thereby driving DC maturation and antigen presentation, producing Th1 cytokines, and triggering CTL responses in uninfected individuals. However, vaccine responses were diminished when using DC and T cells derived from chronically HCV-infected individuals, who express higher levels of inhibitory molecule Tim-3 on immune cells. Notably, blocking Tim-3 signaling significantly improved the innate and adaptive immune responses in chronically HCV-infected patients, indicating that novel strategies to enhance the potential of antigen presentation and cellular responses are essential for developing an effective therapeutic vaccine against HCV infection

Intrinsic Size OF Sgr A*: 72 Schwarzschild Radii

Recent proper motion studies of stars at the very center of the Galaxy strongly suggest that Sagittarius (Sgr) A*, the compact nonthermal radio source at the Galactic Center, is a 2.5 million solar mass black hole. By means of near-simultaneous multi-wavelength Very Long Baseline Array measurements, we determine for the first time the intrinsic size and shape of Sgr A* to be 72 Rsc by < 20 Rsc, with the major axis oriented essentially north-south, where Rsc (= 7.5 x 10^{11} cm) is the Schwarzschild radius for a 2.5 million solar mass black hole. Contrary to previous expectation that the intrinsic structure of Sgr A* is observable only at wavelengths shorter than 1 mm, we can discern the intrinsic source size at 7 mm because (1) the scattering size along the minor axis is half that along the major axis, and (2) the near simultaneous multi-wavelength mapping of Sgr A* with the same interferometer makes it possible to extrapolate precisely the minor axis scattering angle at 7 mm. The intrinsic size and shape place direct constraints on the various emission models for Sgr A*. In particular, the advection dominated accretion flow model may have to incorporate a radio jet in order to account for the structure of Sgr A*.Comment: 15 pages including 2 ps figures and 1 table, to appear in ApJ Letter