1,971 research outputs found
Geometrical families of mechanically stable granular packings
We enumerate and classify nearly all of the possible mechanically stable (MS)
packings of bidipserse mixtures of frictionless disks in small sheared systems.
We find that MS packings form continuous geometrical families, where each
family is defined by its particular network of particle contacts. We also
monitor the dynamics of MS packings along geometrical families by applying
quasistatic simple shear strain at zero pressure. For small numbers of
particles (N < 16), we find that the dynamics is deterministic and highly
contracting. That is, if the system is initialized in a MS packing at a given
shear strain, it will quickly lock into a periodic orbit at subsequent shear
strain, and therefore sample only a very small fraction of the possible MS
packings in steady state. In studies with N>16, we observe an increase in the
period and random splittings of the trajectories caused by bifurcations in
configuration space. We argue that the ratio of the splitting and contraction
rates in large systems will determine the distribution of MS-packing
geometrical families visited in steady-state. This work is part of our
long-term research program to develop a master-equation formalism to describe
macroscopic slowly driven granular systems in terms of collections of small
subsystems.Comment: 18 pages, 23 figures, 5 table
Multiparty Quantum Secret Report
A multiparty quantum secret report scheme is proposed with quantum
encryption. The boss Alice and her agents first share a sequence of
(+1)-particle Greenberger--Horne--Zeilinger (GHZ) states that only Alice
knows which state each (+1)-particle quantum system is in. Each agent
exploits a controlled-not (CNot) gate to encrypt the travelling particle by
using the particle in the GHZ state as the control qubit. The boss Alice
decrypts the travelling particle with a CNot gate after performing a
operation on her particle in the GHZ state or not. After the GHZ states (the
quantum key) are used up, the parties check whether there is a vicious
eavesdropper, say Eve, monitoring the quantum line, by picking out some samples
from the GHZ states shared and measure them with two measuring bases. After
confirming the security of the quantum key, they use the GHZ states remained
repeatedly for next round of quantum communication. This scheme has the
advantage of high intrinsic efficiency for qubits and the total efficiency.Comment: 4 pages, no figure
Mass conservative and energy stable finite difference methods for the quasi-incompressible NavierâStokesâCahnâHilliard system:Primitive variable and projection-type schemes
In this paper we describe two fully mass conservative, energy stable, finite
difference methods on a staggered grid for the quasi-incompressible
Navier-Stokes-Cahn-Hilliard (q-NSCH) system governing a binary incompressible
fluid flow with variable density and viscosity. Both methods, namely the
primitive method (finite difference method in the primitive variable
formulation) and the projection method (finite difference method in a
projection-type formulation), are so designed that the mass of the binary fluid
is preserved, and the energy of the system equations is always non-increasing
in time at the fully discrete level. We also present an efficient, practical
nonlinear multigrid method - comprised of a standard FAS method for the
Cahn-Hilliard equation, and a method based on the Vanka-type smoothing strategy
for the Navier-Stokes equation - for solving these equations. We test the
scheme in the context of Capillary Waves, rising droplets and Rayleigh-Taylor
instability. Quantitative comparisons are made with existing analytical
solutions or previous numerical results that validate the accuracy of our
numerical schemes. Moreover, in all cases, mass of the single component and the
binary fluid was conserved up to 10 to -8 and energy decreases in time
Observation of a near-threshold enhancement in th p pbar mass spectrum from radiative J/psi-->gamma p pbar decays
We observe a narrow enhancement near 2mp in the invariant mass spectrum of
ppbar pairs from radiative J/psi-->gamma ppbar decays. The enhancement can be
fit with either an S- or P-wave Breit Wigner fuction. In the case of the S-wave
fit, the peak mass is below the 2mp threshold and the full width is less than
30 MeV. These mass and width values are not consistent with the properties of
any known meson resonance.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figures, submitted to Phys. Rev. Let
Human U87 Astrocytoma Cell Invasion Induced by Interaction of ÎČig-h3 with Integrin α5ÎČ1 Involves Calpain-2
It is known that ÎČig-h3 is involved in the invasive process of many types of tumors, but its mechanism in glioma cells has not been fully clarified. Using immunofluorescent double-staining and confocal imaging analysis, and co-immunoprecipitation assays, we found that ÎČig-h3 co-localized with integrin α5ÎČ1 in U87 cells. We sought to elucidate the function of this interaction by performing cell invasion assays and gelatin zymography experiments. We found that siRNA knockdowns of ÎČig-h3 and calpain-2 impaired cell invasion and MMP secretion. Moreover, ÎČig-h3, integrins and calpain-2 are known to be regulated by Ca2+, and they are also involved in tumor cell invasion. Therefore, we further investigated if calpain-2 was relevant to ÎČig-h3-integrin α5ÎČ1 interaction to affect U87 cell invasion. Our data showed that ÎČig-h3 co-localized with integrin α5ÎČ1 to enhance the invasion of U87 cells, and that calpain-2, is involved in this process, acting as a downstream molecule
Measurements of the Mass and Full-Width of the Meson
In a sample of 58 million events collected with the BES II detector,
the process J/ is observed in five different decay
channels: , , (with ), (with
) and . From a combined fit of all five
channels, we determine the mass and full-width of to be
MeV/ and
MeV/.Comment: 9 pages, 2 figures and 4 table. Submitted to Phys. Lett.
A Measurement of Psi(2S) Resonance Parameters
Cross sections for e+e- to hadons, pi+pi- J/Psi, and mu+mu- have been
measured in the vicinity of the Psi(2S) resonance using the BESII detector
operated at the BEPC. The Psi(2S) total width; partial widths to hadrons,
pi+pi- J/Psi, muons; and corresponding branching fractions have been determined
to be Gamma(total)= (264+-27) keV; Gamma(hadron)= (258+-26) keV, Gamma(mu)=
(2.44+-0.21) keV, and Gamma(pi+pi- J/Psi)= (85+-8.7) keV; and Br(hadron)=
(97.79+-0.15)%, Br(pi+pi- J/Psi)= (32+-1.4)%, Br(mu)= (0.93+-0.08)%,
respectively.Comment: 8 pages, 6 figure
Oridonin induces apoptosis and senescence in colorectal cancer cells by increasing histone hyperacetylation and regulation of p16, p21, p27 and c-myc
<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Oridonin, a tetracycline diterpenoid compound, has the potential antitumor activities. Here, we evaluate the antitumor activity and action mechanisms of oridonin in colorectal cancer.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Effects of oridonin on cell proliferation were determined by using a CCK-8 Kit. Cell cycle distribution was determined by flow cytometry. Apoptosis was examined by analyzing subdiploid population and terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase-mediated dUTP nick end labeling assay. Senescent cells were determined by senescence-associated ÎČ-galactosidase activity analysis. Semi-quantitative RT-PCR was used to examine the changes of mRNA of p16, p21, p27 and c-myc. The concomitant changes of protein expression were analyzed with Western blot. Expression of AcH3 and AcH4 were examined by immunofluorescence staining and Western blots. Effects of oridonin on colony formation of SW1116 were examined by Soft Agar assay. The in vivo efficacy of oridonin was detected using a xenograft colorectal cancer model in nude mice.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Oridonin induced potent growth inhibition, cell cycle arrest, apoptosis, senescence and colony-forming inhibition in three colorectal cancer cell lines in a dose-dependent manner in vitro. Daily i.p. injection of oridonin (6.25, 12.5 or 25 mg/kg) for 28 days significantly inhibited the growth of SW1116 s.c. xenografts in BABL/C nude mice. With western blot and reverse transcription-PCR, we further showed that the antitumor activities of oridonin correlated with induction of histone (H3 and H4) hyperacetylation, activation of p21, p27 and p16, and suppression of c-myc expression.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Oridonin possesses potent in vitro and in vivo anti-colorectal cancer activities that correlated with induction of histone hyperacetylation and regulation of pathways critical for maintaining growth inhibition and cell cycle arrest. Therefore, oridonin may represent a novel therapeutic option in colorectal cancer treatment.</p
Smoking and alcohol drinking increased the risk of esophageal cancer among Chinese men but not women in a high-risk population
Although the association for esophageal cancer with tobacco smoking and alcohol drinking has been well established, the risk appears to be less strong in China. To provide more evidence on the effect of smoking and alcohol consumption with esophageal cancer in China, particularly among Chinese women, a population-based caseâcontrol study has been conducted in Jiangsu, China, from 2003 to 2007. A total of 1,520 cases and 3,879 controls were recruited. Unconditional multivariate logistic regression analysis was applied. Results showed that the odds ratio (OR) and confidence interval (CI) for ever smoking and alcohol drinking were 1.57 (95% CI: 1.34â1.83) and 1.50 (95% CI: 1.29â1.74). Doseâresponse relationships were observed with increased intensity and longer duration of smoking/drinking. Risk of smoking and alcohol drinking at the highest joint level was 7.32 (95% CI: 4.58â11.7), when compared to those never smoked and never drank alcohol. Stratifying by genders, smoking and alcohol drinking increased the risk among men with an OR of 1.74 (95% CI: 1.44â2.09) and 1.76 (95% CI: 1.48â2.09); however, neither smoking nor alcohol consumption showed a significant association among women. In conclusion, smoking and alcohol drinking were associated with esophageal cancer risk among Chinese men, but not among Chinese women
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