Maximal violation of Clauser-Horne-Shimony-Holt inequality for two qutrits

Bell-Clauser-Horne-Shimony-Holt inequality (in terms of correlation functions) of two qutrits is studied in detail by employing tritter measurements. A uniform formula for the maximum value of this inequality for tritter measurements is obtained. Based on this formula, we show that non-maximally entangled states violate the Bell-CHSH inequality more strongly than the maximally entangled one. This result is consistent with what was obtained by Ac{\'{i}}n {\it et al} [Phys. Rev. A {\bf 65}, 052325 (2002)] using the Bell-Clauser-Horne inequality (in terms of probabilities).Comment: 6 pages, 3 figure

Wave power extraction by an oscillating water column array embedded in comb-type breakwaters:Performance analysis and hydrodynamic mechanism

Cost-sharing, space-sharing, and multi-function can be achieved through integrating wave energy converters into coastal defense facilities. In this paper, we consider a periodical array of oscillating water columns (OWCs) embedded in the coast-based comb-type breakwater in the presence of the step bottom. Based on the linear potential flow theory and matched eigenfunction expansion method, a semi-analytical model for solving the diffraction and radiation problems of the periodic OWC array is developed. The mathematical model is verified using Haskind relations and energy conservation law. Parametrical studies are carried out to illustrate the hydrodynamic characteristics of the OWC array embedded in the comb-type breakwater. This study also reveals the constructive and destructive interference effects between the breakwater and OWCs. It is found that the wave amplification caused by the projecting caisson produces a constructive effect on the wave power extraction. However, the inherent strong wave reflection caused by the caisson array weakens the wave power extraction, particularly in the sensitive frequency range (i.e., 2 &lt; kh1 &lt; 5.5 in the present investigations).</p

A position optimization strategy of the dynamic vibration absorber for the noise control of the power equipment

Power equipment shows obvious low frequency line spectrum noise characteristics due to the power frequency. The effective noise control of the power equipment can be achieved by installing dynamic vibration absorbers (DVAs) on the structure surface of electrical equipment. However, if DVAs are not installed properly, considering the cases that they are installed at the vibration mode node position, the low radiation vibration mode and the redistribution of the integrate vibration power, the vibration and noise absorbing performances of DVAs may degrade. In order to achieve efficient vibration absorption and noise reduction on the power equipment, this paper proposes a low-frequency noise reduction technology for power equipment based on DVAs. The position optimization of the DAVs using in the power equipment is studied for the first time. Aimed at the single frequency radiated sound power of equipment, the integrate radiated sound power of the equipment is minimized through adjusting the position parameters of DVAs. A numerical case is studied to verify the effectiveness of the proposed DVAs position optimization. The results show that the noise control effect of the power equipment with the optimized DVAs is significantly improved. The method proposed in this paper solves the noise problem of the power equipment, which provides reference for power noise control

Multilayer Mo2N-Ag/SiNx films for demanding applications: Morphology, structure and temperature-cycling tribological properties

Nowadays there is the need to avoid the excessive consumption of liquid lubricant oils, as they are harmful to the environment and hard to disposal. Self-lubricant films have been seen as the sustainable solution to achieve a long-term lubrication under high temperature-cycling conditions. In this manuscript, multilayer Mo2N-Ag/SiNx films with a fixed modulation ratio (thickness of Mo2N-Ag to SiNx) of 3:1, with changing modulation period (Λ, thickness of Mo2N-Ag and SiNx) from 8 to 200 nm were produced to achieve an effective balance between the lubricious phase diffusion control and the adequate formation of the low friction tribo-layers. Results showed that a dual-phase of fcc-Mo2N and fcc-Ag co-existed in Mo2N-Ag layers, while the SiNx layer exhibited an amorphous character. Both room temperature (RT) lubricant and wear-resistance properties of the films were improved by increasing Λ from 8 to 64 nm, while a further increase of Λ degraded the wear-resistance properties. The multilayer film at Λ = 64 nm exhibited an excellent RT-500 °C temperature-cycling tribological properties. Mechanical properties and the synergistic effect of both modulation layers were the cause for the improvement of the tribological properties.Supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China, China (51801081, 52071159, 52171071, 52172090); Portugal National Funds through FCT project, Portugal (2021.04115); Outstanding University Young Teachers of ‘‘Qing Lan Project” of Jiangsu Province, China; Excellent Talents of ‘‘Shenlan Project” of Jiangsu University of Science and Technology, China; China Merchants Marine Scientific Research and Innovation Fund, China. Filipe Fernandes acknowledges the funding received in the aim of the projects: MCTool21 - ref. ‘‘POCI-01-0247- FEDER-045940”, CEMMPRE – ref. ‘‘UIDB/00285/2020” and SMARTLUB – ref. ‘‘POCI- 01-0145-FEDER-031807”.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Isostructural Phase Transition of TiN Under High Pressure

In situ high-pressure energy dispersive x-ray diffraction experiments on polycrystalline powder TiN with NaCl-type structure have been conducted with the pressure up to 30.1 GPa by using the diamond anvil cell instrument with synchrotron radiation at room tempearture. The experimental results suggested that an isostructural phase transition might exist at about 7 GPa as revealed by the discontinuity of V/V0 with pressure.Comment: submitte

Mammalian tissues defective in nonsense-mediated mRNA decay display highly aberrant splicing patterns

BACKGROUND: Nonsense-mediated mRNA decay (NMD) affects the outcome of alternative splicing by degrading mRNA isoforms with premature termination codons. Splicing regulators constitute important NMD targets; however, the extent to which loss of NMD causes extensive deregulation of alternative splicing has not previously been assayed in a global, unbiased manner. Here, we combine mouse genetics and RNA-seq to provide the first in vivo analysis of the global impact of NMD on splicing patterns in two primary mouse tissues ablated for the NMD factor UPF2. RESULTS: We developed a bioinformatic pipeline that maps RNA-seq data to a combinatorial exon database, predicts NMD-susceptibility for mRNA isoforms and calculates the distribution of major splice isoform classes. We present a catalog of NMD-regulated alternative splicing events, showing that isoforms of 30% of all expressed genes are upregulated in NMD-deficient cells and that NMD targets all major splicing classes. Importantly, NMD-dependent effects are not restricted to premature termination codon+ isoforms but also involve an abundance of splicing events that do not generate premature termination codons. Supporting their functional importance, the latter events are associated with high intronic conservation. CONCLUSIONS: Our data demonstrate that NMD regulates alternative splicing outcomes through an intricate web of splicing regulators and that its loss leads to the deregulation of a panoply of splicing events, providing novel insights into its role in core- and tissue-specific regulation of gene expression. Thus, our study extends the importance of NMD from an mRNA quality pathway to a regulator of several layers of gene expression

Chinese herbal compound for multidrug-resistant or extensively drug-resistant bacterial pneumonia: a meta-analysis and trial sequential analysis with association rule mining to identify core herb combinations

Purpose: Antibiotic-resistant bacterial pneumonia poses a significant therapeutic challenge. In China, Chinese herbal compound (CHC) is commonly used to treat bacterial pneumonia. We aimed to evaluate the efficacy and safety of CHC and identify core herb combinations for the treatment of multidrug-resistant or extensively drug-resistant bacterial pneumonia.Methods: Stata 16 and TSA 0.9.5.10 beta software were used for meta-analysis and trial sequential analysis (TSA), respectively. Exploring the sources of heterogeneity through meta-regression and subgroup analysis.Results: Thirty-eight studies involving 2890 patients were included in the analyses. Meta-analysis indicated that CHC combined with antibiotics improved the response rate (RR = 1.24; 95% CI: 1.19–1.28; p &lt; 0.0001) and microbiological eradication (RR = 1.41; 95% CI: 1.27–1.57; p &lt; 0.0001), lowered the white blood cell count (MD = −2.09; 95% CI: −2.65 to −1.53; p &lt; 0.0001), procalcitonin levels (MD = −0.49; 95% CI: −0.59 to −0.40; p &lt; 0.0001), C-reactive protein levels (MD = −11.80; 95% CI: −15.22 to −8.39; p &lt; 0.0001), Clinical Pulmonary Infection Scores (CPIS) (MD = −1.97; 95% CI: −2.68 to −1.26; p &lt; 0.0001), and Acute Physiology and Chronic Health Evaluation (APACHE)-II score (MD = −4.08; 95% CI: −5.16 to −3.00; p &lt; 0.0001), shortened the length of hospitalization (MD = −4.79; 95% CI: −6.18 to −3.40; p &lt; 0.0001), and reduced the number of adverse events. TSA indicated that the response rate and microbiological eradication results were robust. Moreover, Scutellaria baicalensis Georgi, Fritillaria thunbergii Miq, Lonicera japonica Thunb, and Glycyrrhiza uralensis Fisch were identified as core CHC prescription herbs.Conclusion: Compared with antibiotic treatment, CHC + antibiotic treatment was superior in improving response rate, microbiological eradication, inflammatory response, CPIS, and APACHE-II score and shortening the length of hospitalization. Association rule analysis identified four core herbs as promising candidates for treating antibiotic-resistant bacterial pneumonia. However, large-scale clinical studies are still required.Systematic Review Registration:https://www.crd.york.ac.uk/prospero/, identifier CRD42023410587

Effects of Curcumin on Epidermal Growth Factor in Proliferative Vitreoretinopathy

Background/Aims: Proliferative vitreoretinopathy (PVR) is a common refractory eye disease that causes blindness and occurs after retinal detachment or retinal reattachment. Epidermal growth factor (EGF) has been shown to play an important role in the migration and proliferation of retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) cells, which promote PVR. Curcumin inhibits RPE cell proliferation, but it is not known whether it participates in the formation of PVR. Curcumin regulates the biological functions of EGF, which plays important roles in the development of PVR. This study aimed to evaluate the effect of curcumin on the regulation of EGF in PVR. Methods: Rabbit RPE cells were cultured, and EGF expression was detected by immunocytochemistry. MTT assay was conducted to determine cell proliferation induced by different concentrations of EGF. Immunocytochemical staining was used to detect EGF expression after treatment with curcumin at varying concentrations. Real-time PCR (RT-PCR) and western blot analysis were used to detect the concentrations of EGF mRNA and protein after treatment with curcumin. After RPE cells and curcumin were injected into experimental rabbit eyes, the cornea, aqueous humor, lens, and vitreous opacity were observed and recorded simultaneously by indirect ophthalmoscopy, fundus color photography, and B-ultrasonography. The vitreous body was extracted, and the EGF content in the vitreous humor was measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Results: At each time point (24, 48, and 72 h), cell proliferation gradually increased with increasing EGF concentrations (0, 3, 6, and 9 ng/mL) in a dose-dependent manner. Cell proliferation between EGF concentrations of 9 and 12 ng/mL were no different, which suggested that 9 ng/mL EGF was the best concentration to use to stimulate RPE cell proliferation in vitro. Under all EGF concentrations (0, 3, 6, 9, and 12 ng/mL), RPE cell proliferation increased with time (from 24 to 72 h), suggesting a time–effect relationship. Curcumin downregulated EGF expression in RPE cells, which also indicated time–effect and dose–effect relationships. The best curcumin concentration for the inhibition of EGF expression was 15 µg/mL. RT-PCR and western blot analyses indicated that the EGF mRNA and expression of the protein in RPE cells treated with curcumin significantly decreased with time. Ocular examinations revealed that the vitreous opacity was lower and the proliferative membrane was thinner in the curcumin group compared with the control group. The PVR grade and the incidence of retinal detachment were significantly lower in the experimental group than in the control group. ELISA results showed that the EGF content in vitreous humor was higher in the control group than in the curcumin group. The curcumin and control groups were significantly different at each time point. Conclusion: Curcumin inhibited RPE cell proliferation by downregulating EGF and thus effectively inhibited the initiation and development of PVR