Hardy's Paradox for High-Dimensional Systems: Beyond Hardy's Limit

Hardy's proof is considered the simplest proof of nonlocality. Here we introduce an equally simple proof that (i) has Hardy's as a particular case, (ii) shows that the probability of nonlocal events grows with the dimension of the local systems, and (iii) is always equivalent to the violation of a tight Bell inequality.Comment: REVTeX4, 5 pages, 1 figure. Typo in Eq. (17) corrected. Ref. [5] complete

Anti-Bladder-Tumor Effect of Baicalein from Scutellaria baicalensis Georgi and Its Application In Vivo

Some phytochemicals with the characteristics of cytotoxicity and/or antimetastasis have generated intense interest among the anticancer studies. In this study, a natural flavonoid baicalein was evaluated in bladder cancer in vitro and in vivo. Baicalein inhibits 5637 cell proliferation. It arrests cells in G1 phase at 100 μM and in S phase below 75 μM. The protein expression of cyclin B1 and cyclin D1 is reduced by baicalein. Baicalein-induced p-ERK plays a minor role in cyclin B1 reduction. Baicalein-inhibited p65NF-κB results in reduction of cell growth. Baicalein-induced pGSK(ser9) has a little effect in increasing cyclin B1/D1 expression instead. The translation inhibitor cycloheximide blocks baicalein-reduced cyclin B1, suggesting that the reduction is caused by protein synthesis inhibition. On the other hand, neither cycloheximide nor proteasome inhibitor MG132 completely blocks baicalein-reduced cyclin D1, suggesting that baicalein reduces cyclin D1 through protein synthesis inhibition and proteasomal degradation activation. In addition, baicalein also inhibits cell invasion by inhibiting MMP-2 and MMP-9 mRNA expression and activity. In mouse orthotopic bladder tumor model, baicalein slightly reduces tumor size but with some hepatic toxicity. In summary, these results demonstrate the anti-bladder-tumor properties of the natural compound baicalein which shows a slight anti-bladder-tumor effect in vivo

Beyond Gisin's Theorem and its Applications: Violation of Local Realism by Two-Party Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen Steering

We demonstrate here that for a given mixed multi-qubit state if there are at least two observers for whom mutual Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen steering is possible, i.e. each observer is able to steer the other qubits into two different pure states by spontaneous collapses due to von Neumann type measurements on his/her qubit, then nonexistence of local realistic models is fully equivalent to quantum entanglement (this is not so without this condition). This result leads to an enhanced version of Gisin's theorem (originally: all pure entangled states violate local realism). Local realism is violated by all mixed states with the above steering property. The new class of states allows one e.g. to perform three party secret sharing with just pairs of entangled qubits, instead of three qubit entanglements (which are currently available with low fidelity). This significantly increases the feasibility of having high performance versions of such protocols. Finally, we discuss some possible applications.Comment: 9 pages, 1 figur

Fleet deployment and demand fulfillment for container shipping liners

This paper models and solves a fleet deployment and demand fulfillment problem for container shipping liners with consideration of the potential overload risk of containers. Given the stochastic weights of transported containers, chance constraints are embedded in the model at the strategic level. Several realistic limiting factors such as the fleet size and the available berth and yard resources at the ports are also considered. A non-linear mixed integer programming (MIP) model is suggested to optimally determine the transportation demand fulfillment scale for each origin-destination pair, as well as the ship deployment plan along each route, with an objective incorporating revenue, fixed operation cost, fuel consumption cost, holding cost for transhipped containers, and extra berth and yard costs. Two efficient algorithms are then developed to solve the non-linear MIP model for different instance sizes. Numerical experiments based on real-world data are conducted to validate the effectiveness of the model and the algorithms. The results indicate the proposed methodology yields solutions with an optimality gap less than about 0.5%, and can solve realistic instances with 19 ports and four routes within about one hour.</p

Fleet deployment and demand fulfillment for container shipping liners

This paper models and solves a fleet deployment and demand fulfillment problem for container shipping liners with consideration of the potential overload risk of containers. Given the stochastic weights of transported containers, chance constraints are embedded in the model at the strategic level. Several realistic limiting factors such as the fleet size and the available berth and yard resources at the ports are also considered. A non-linear mixed integer programming (MIP) model is suggested to optimally determine the transportation demand fulfillment scale for each origin-destination pair, as well as the ship deployment plan along each route, with an objective incorporating revenue, fixed operation cost, fuel consumption cost, holding cost for transhipped containers, and extra berth and yard costs. Two efficient algorithms are then developed to solve the non-linear MIP model for different instance sizes. Numerical experiments based on real-world data are conducted to validate the effectiveness of the model and the algorithms. The results indicate the proposed methodology yields solutions with an optimality gap less than about 0.5%, and can solve realistic instances with 19 ports and four routes within about one hour.</p