Accretion Disk for regular black holes with sub-Planckian curvature

We investigate the accretion disk for a sort of regular black holes which are characterized by sub-Planckian curvature and Minkowskian core. We derive null geodesics outside the horizon of such regular black holes and analyze the feature of the light rays from the accretion disk which can be classified into direct emission, lensed rings, and photon rings. We find that the observed brightness under different emission models is mainly determined by direct emission, while the contribution from the flux of the lensed and photon rings is limited. By comparing with Bardeen black hole with a dS core, it is found that the black hole with a Minkowskian core exhibits distinct astronomical optical features when surrounded by accretion disk, which potentially provides a way to distinguish these two sorts of black holes by astronomical observation.Comment: 26 pages,9 figure

A Survey on Off-chain Networks: Frameworks, Technologies, Solutions and Challenges

Blockchain has received increasing attention in academia and industry. However, the increasing transaction volumes and limited on-chain storage underscore scalability as a key challenge hindering the widespread adoption of blockchain. Fortunately, off-chain networks that enable transactions outside the blockchain show promising potential to mitigate the scalability challenge. Off-chain solutions that address blockchain scalability hurdles, such as payment channel networks, facilitate secure and fast off-chain transactions, thus relieving the main chain's strain. In this article, we provide a comprehensive review of key technologies, solutions, and challenges of off-chain networks. First, we introduce the background of off-chain networks encompassing design motivation, framework, overview, and application scenarios. We then review the key issues and technologies associated with off-chain networks. Subsequently, we summarize the mainstream solutions for the corresponding key issues. Finally, we discuss some research challenges and open issues in this area.Comment: 30 pages, 5 figure

Growth, physicochemical properties, and morphogenesis of Chinese wild-type PRV Fa and its gene-deleted mutant strain PRV SA215

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>PRV Fa is common in China and causes most of the pseudorabies in the pig industry. A PRV SA215 strain with deleted gE, gI, and TK genes was constructed to develop a commercial attenuated live vaccine. However, the physicochemical properties, growth pattern, penetration kinetics, and morphogenesis of the PRV SA215 and its parental PRV Fa strain are unclear.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>A series of experiments were conducted to characterize both strains and provide more information. PRV Fa and PRV SA215 were found to have similar penetration patterns, with about 5 min half-time of penetration. The SA215 strain exhibited a slight delay in entry compared with PRV Fa. In the one-step growth test, the titers of the SA215 strain were first detected at 8 h, rapidly increased, and peaked at 12 h. A plateau was formed between 12-36 h of culturing. PRV SA215 showed delayed replication and approximately 10-30-fold lower titers during 0-16 h of culturing compared with the PRV-Fa strain. After 16 h, the PRV Fa titers dramatically decreased, whereas those of PRV SA215 were prolonged to 36 h and reached a titer value equal to that of PRV Fa and then decreased. Both strains were sensitive to both heat and acid-alkali treatments; however, PRV Fa was relatively more stable to heat treatment than PRV SA215. Both strains could propagate in the cultures with pH values from 5.0 to 9.0. Cultures with pH below 3.0 or above 11.0 were fatal to both strains. Both strains had considerable resistance to freeze-thawing treatments. Morphogenetic investigations showed that typical phases in the maturation pathway were observed in the PRV Fa-infected PK15 cells, whereas secondary envelopment was not observed in the PRV SA215 strain. Instead, capsid aggregations with concomitants of electrodense materials were observed.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>These results suggest that PRV SA215 is a promising strain for vaccine development</p

Growth Hormone Therapy Benefits Pituitary Stalk Interruption Syndrome Patients with Short Stature: A Retrospective Study of 75 Han Chinese

Objective. We aim to investigate the long-term benefits of growth hormone (GH) therapy in short stature adolescents and adults with pituitary stalk interruption syndrome (PSIS), which would be beneficial for future clinical applications. Design and Methods. In this study, initial height, final height, total height gain, and GH treatment history were retrospectively investigated in 75 Chinese PSIS patients. We compared height gain between the GH treated cohort and untreated cohort and explored the impact of different GH therapy duration on height gain. Results. For GH treated patients, their final height (SDS) increased from -1.99±1.91 (−6.93~2.80) at bone age (BA) of 11.2 (5.0~17.0) years to -1.47±1.64 (−7.82~1.05) at BA of 16.6 (8.0~18.0) years (P=0.016). And GH treated patients had more height gain than the untreated patients (P<0.05). There was a significant difference between the different GH therapy duration groups (P=0.001): GH 0 versus GH 3, P=0.000; GH 1 versus GH 3, P=0.028; GH 2 versus GH 3, P=0.044. Conclusion. Adult Chinese PSIS patients with short stature benefited the most from at least 12 months of GH therapy. Although patient diagnosis age was lagged behind in the developing countries, GH treatment was still effective for them and resulted in a higher final height and more height gain

Risk for Gestational Diabetes Mellitus and Adverse Birth Outcomes in Chinese Women with Polycystic Ovary Syndrome

Objective. To examine the association of polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) in early pregnancy with gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) and adverse birth outcomes. Methods. In this retrospective cohort study including 2389 pregnant women, the medical records of 352 women diagnosed with PCOS were evaluated. Outcomes included GDM, preterm birth, low birth weight, macrosomia, and being small and large for gestational age. Multivariable logistic regression models were used to examine the association of the risk for GDM and adverse birth outcomes with PCOS after adjusting for confounders. Results. Women previously diagnosed with PCOS had a higher risk of GDM (adjusted odds ratio [OR] 1.55, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.14–2.09). A strong association was seen between PCOS and preterm birth (adjusted OR 1.69, 95% CI: 1.08–2.67). On stratified analysis, the adjusted OR for GDM among women with PCOS undergoing assisted reproductive technology was 1.44 (95% CI: 1.03–1.92) and among women with PCOS who conceived spontaneously was 1.60 (1.18–2.15). No increased risk for other adverse birth outcomes was observed. Conclusions. Women with PCOS were more likely to experience GDM and preterm birth

Natural characteristics analysis of aircraft wing box based on finite element method and measured data

Compared with other mechanical products, aircraft structures have more rigorous requirements on flying performance, safety, reliability and service life. Based on the finite element method (FEM), the key component of the wing box model is explored in this paper, which provides a reference for the structure design and manufacture of aircraft wing box. The three-dimensional point cloud data of components are obtained by optical measurement systems, the deviation analysis between the point cloud model and the nominal model is carried out as a prerequisite, and then the natural characteristics of the model is analyzed. The results show that 99.15 % of the measured points have deviations within 0.38 mm, which verifies the accuracy of the nominal model. The first six modes are all bending modal shape, and the larger amplitude region mainly occurs in the wing ribs, which means its bending strength should be improved for structure design. Besides, the sixth-mode simultaneously result in front spar, stringer and rib bending vibration

Exploring SAT for Cryptanalysis: (Quantum) Collision Attacks against 6-Round SHA-3 (Full Version)

In this work, we focus on collision attacks against instances of SHA-3 hash family in both classical and quantum settings. Since the 5-round collision attacks on SHA3-256 and other variants proposed by Guo et al. at JoC~2020, no other essential progress has been published. With a thorough investigation, we identify that the challenges of extending such collision attacks on SHA-3 to more rounds lie in the inefficiency of differential trail search. To overcome this obstacle, we develop a SAT-based automatic search toolkit. The tool is used in multiple intermediate steps of the collision attacks and exhibits surprisingly high efficiency in differential trail search and other optimization problems encountered in the process. As a result, we present the first 6-round classical collision attack on SHAKE-128 with time complexity $2^{123.5}$, which also forms a quantum collision attack with quantum time ${{2^{67.25}}/{\sqrt{S}}}$, and the first 6-round quantum collision attack on SHA3-224 and SHA3-256 with quantum time ${{2^{97.75}}/{\sqrt{S}}}$ and ${{2^{104.25}}/{\sqrt{S}}}$, both with negligible requirement of classical and quantum memory. The fact that classical collision attacks do not apply to 6-round SHA3-224 and SHA3-256 shows the higher coverage of quantum collision attacks, which is consistent with that on SHA-2 observed by Hosoyamada and Sasaki at CRYPTO~2021

Astrocyte elevated gene-1 (AEG-1) is a marker for aggressive salivary gland carcinoma

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Astrocyte elevated gene-1 (AEG-1) is associated with tumorigenesis and progression in diverse human cancers. The present study was aimed to investigate the clinical and prognostic significance of AEG-1 in salivary gland carcinomas (SGC).</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Real-time PCR and western blot analyses were employed to examine AEG-1 expression in two normal salivary gland tissues, eight SGC tissues of various clinical stages, and five pairs of primary SGC and adjacent salivary gland tissues from the same patient. Immunohistochemistry (IHC) was performed to examine AEG-1 protein expression in paraffin-embedded tissues from 141 SGC patients. Statistical analyses was applies to evaluate the diagnostic value and associations of AEG-1 expression with clinical parameters.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>AEG-1 expression was evidently up-regulated in SGC tissues compared with that in the normal salivary gland tissues and in matched adjacent salivary gland tissues. AEG-1 protein level was positively correlated with clinical stage (<it>P </it>< 0.001), T classification (<it>P </it>= 0.008), N classification (<it>P </it>= 0.008) and M classifications (<it>P </it>= 0.006). Patients with higher AEG-1 expression had shorter overall survival time, whereas those with lower tumor AEG-1 expression had longer survival time.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Our results suggest that AEG-1 expression is associated with SGC progression and may represent a novel and valuable predictor for prognostic evaluation of SGC patients.</p