Chromo-polarizability and pipi final state interaction

The chromo-polarizability of a quarkonium state is a measure of the amplitude of the $E1$-$E1$ chromo-electric interaction of the quarkonium with soft gluon fields and can be measured in the heavy quarkonium decays. Based on the chiral unitary approach, formulas with modification caused by the $S$ wave $\pi\pi$ final state interaction (FSI) for measuring the chromo-polarizabilities are given. It is shown that the effect of the $S$ wave $\pi\pi$ FSI is very important in extracting chromo-polarizabilities from the experimental data. The resultant values with the FSI are reduced to about 1/3 of those determined without the FSI. The consequences of the FSI correction in the $J/\psi$-nucleon scattering near the threshold are also discussed. The estimated lower bound of the total cross section is reduced from about 17 mb to 2.9 mb, which agrees with the experimental data point and is compatible with the previously estimated values in the literature. In order to understand the interaction of heavy quarkonia with light hadrons at low energies better and to obtain the chromo-polarizabilities of quarkonia accurately, more data should be accumulated. This can be done in the $J/\psi \to \pi^+\pi^-l^+l^-$ decay at BES-III and CLEO-c and in the $\Upsilon \to \pi^+\pi^-l^+l^-$ decay at B factories.Comment: 5 pages, 3 figures, ReVTeX4. Version accepted for publication in Phys. Rev.

Niche Relationships of Carnivores in a Subtropical Primary Forest in Southern Taiwan

Carnivores are at the higher trophic levels and have garnered much attention in conservation and management efforts. In this study, we attempted to understand resource partitioning among sympatric carnivores existing in a primary forest with minimal human disturbance in southern Taiwan by camera trapping after the disappearance of the top carnivore, the clouded leopard (Neofelis nebulosa). Niche relationships were studied in terms of habitat, diet, and time dimensions. Six carnivore species were recorded, but the Asiatic black bear (Ursus thibetanus formosanus) was very rare. Canonical correspondence analysis of photographic rates and habitat factors of the other 5 carnivores showed that elevation was the strongest factor explaining the composition of the carnivore community in the habitat dimension. Carnivores could be divided into 3 groups. The low- to mid-elevation group consisted of the gem-faced palm civet (Paguma larvata taivana) and crab-eating mongoose (Herpestes urva formosanus) which had contrasting activity patterns and different diets; the mid- to high-elevation group consisted of yellow-throated marten (Martes flavigula chrysospila) and Siberian weasel (Mustela sibirica taivana). These 2 mustelids had similar diets, but Siberian weasels tended to avoid yellow-throated martens temporally. The Formosan ferret badger (Melogale moschata subaurantiaca) was more widely distributed along the elevational gradient. Ferret badgers partitioned resource use in either diet, activity patterns, or other habitat gradients from the other carnivores. Niche segregation and complementary resource use were observed in these 5 carnivores

Square Key Matrix Management Scheme in Wireless Sensor Networks

In this paper we propose a symmetric cryptographic approach named Square Key Matrix Management Scheme (SKMaS) in which a sensor node named Key Distribution Server (KDS) is responsible for the security of key management. When the system starts up, the KDS sends its individual key and two sets of keys to sensor nodes. With the IDs, any two valid sensor nodes, e.g. i and j, can individually identify the corresponding communication keys (CKs) to derive a dynamic shared key (DSK) for encrypting/decrypting messages transmitted between them. When i leaves the underlying network, the CKs and the individually keys currently utilized by i can be reused by a newly joining sensor, e.g. h. However, when h joins the network, if no such previously-used IDs are available, h will be given a new ID, CKs and the individually key by the KDS. The KDS encrypts the CKs, with which an existing node q can communicate with h, with individual key so that only q rather than h can correctly decrypt the CKs. The lemmas and security analyses provided in this paper prove that the proposed system can protect at least three common attacks

E2F transcription factor 1 overexpression as a poor prognostic factor in patients with nasopharyngeal carcinomas

AbstractNasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) is an endemic head and neck epithelial malignancy in Southeastern Asia and Taiwan. The E2 factor (E2F) family of transcription factors is downstream targets of the retinoblastoma protein 1. The E2F family of transcription factors is the key regulator of genes involved in cell cycle progression, cell fate determination, DNA damage repair and apoptosis. E2F1 is unique in that it contributes both to the control of cellular proliferation and cellular death. However, the expression of E2F1 protein and its clinicopathological associations in patients with NPC are yet to be evaluated. Immunoexpression of E2F1 was retrospectively assessed in biopsies of 124 consecutive NPC patients without initial distant metastasis and treated with consistent guidelines. The outcomes were correlated with clinicopathological features and patient survivals. Results indicated that high E2F1 protein level (50%) was correlated with primary tumor (p < 0.001) and stage (p = 0.002; 7th American Joint Committee on Cancer). In multivariate analyses, high E2F1 expression emerged as an independent prognosticator for worse disease-specific survival (p = 0.003), distal metastasis-free survival (p = 0.003), and local recurrence-free survival (p = 0.039). In conclusion, high E2F1 protein level is common, associated with adverse prognosticators, and might confer tumor aggressiveness through tumor cell proliferation and metastasis

High-Frequency Sea Level Variations Observed by GPS Buoys Using Precise Point Positioning Technique

In this study, sea level variation observed by a 1-Hz Global Positioning System (GPS) buoy system is verified by comparing with tide gauge records and is decomposed to reveal high-frequency signals that cannot be detected from 6-minute tide gauge records. Compared to tide gauges traditionally used to monitor sea level changes and affected by land motion, GPS buoys provide high-frequency geocentric measurements of sea level variations. Data from five GPS buoy campaigns near a tide gauge at Anping, Tainan, Taiwan, were processed using the Precise Point Positioning (PPP) technique with four different satellite orbit products from the International GNSS Service (IGS). The GPS buoy data were also processed by a differential GPS (DGPS) method that needs an additional GPS receiver as a reference station and the accuracy of the solution depends on the baseline length. The computation shows the average Root Mean Square Error (RMSE) difference of the GPS buoy using DGPS and tide gauge records is around 3 - 5 cm. When using the aforementioned IGS orbit products for the buoy derived by PPP, its average RMSE differences are 5 - 8 cm, 8 - 13 cm, decimeter level, and decimeter-meter level, respectively, so the accuracy of the solution derived by PPP highly depends on the accuracy of IGS orbit products. Therefore, the result indicates that the accuracy of a GPS buoy using PPP has the potential to measure the sea surface variations to several cm. Finally, high-frequency sea level signals with periods of a few seconds to a day can be successfully detected in GPS buoy observations using the Ensemble Empirical Mode Decomposition (EMD) method and are identified as waves, meteotsunamis, and tides

Isolation and Characterization of Polymorphic Microsatellite Loci from Metapenaeopsis barbata Using PCR-Based Isolation of Microsatellite Arrays (PIMA)

The red-spot prawn, Metapenaeopsis barbata, is a commercially important, widely distributed demersal species in the Indo-West Pacific Ocean. Overfishing has made its populations decline in the past decade. To study conservation genetics, eight polymorphic microsatellite loci were isolated. Genetic characteristics of the SSR (simple sequence repeat) fingerprints were estimated in 61 individuals from adjacent seas of Taiwan and China. The number of alleles, ranging from 2 to 4, as well as observed and expected heterozygosities in populations, ranging from 0.048 to 0.538, and 0.048 and 0.654, respectively, were detected. No deviation from Hardy–Weinberg expectations was detected at either locus. No significant linkage disequilibrium was detected in locus pairs. The polymorphic microsatellite loci will be useful for investigations of the genetic variation, population structure, and conservation genetics of this species

Antihepatoma Activity of Artocarpus communis

Extracts from natural plants have been used in traditional medicine for many centuries worldwide. Artocarpus communis is one such plant that has been used to treat liver cirrhosis, hypertension, and diabetes. To our knowledge, this study is the first to investigate the antihepatoma activity of A. communis toward HepG2 and PLC/PRF/5 cells and the first to explore the relationship between antihepatoma activity and the active compound artocarpin content in different fractions of A. communis. A. communis methanol extract and fractions induced dose-dependent reduction of tumor cell viability. DNA laddering analysis revealed that A. communis extract and fractions did not induce apoptosis in HepG2 and PLC/PRF/5 cells. Instead, acridine orange staining revealed that A. communis triggered autophagic cell death in a dose-dependent manner. The antihepatoma activity of A. communis is attributable to artocarpin. The fractions with the highest artocarpin content were also the fractions with the highest antihepatoma activity in the following order: dichloromethane fraction > methanol extract > ethyl acetate fraction > n-butanol fraction > n-hexane fraction. Taken together, A. communis showed antihepatoma activity through autophagic cell death. The effect was related to artocarpin content. Artocarpin could be considered an indicator of the anticancer potential of A. communis extract

Dynamically generated 0^+ heavy mesons in a heavy chiral unitary approach

In terms of the heavy chiral Lagrangian and the unitarized coupled-channel scattering amplitude, interaction between the heavy meson and the light pseudoscalar meson is studied. By looking for the pole of scattering matrix on an appropriate Riemann sheet, a $DK$ bound state $D_{s0}^*$ with the mass of $2.312\pm0.041$ GeV is found. This state can be associated as the narrow $D_{sJ}^*(2317)$ state found recently. In the same way, a $B{\bar K}$ bound state $B_{s0}^*$ is found, and its mass of $5.725\pm0.039$ GeV is predicted. The spectra of $D_0^*$ and $B_0^*$ with $I=1/2$ are further investigated. One broad and one narrow states are predicted in both charm and bottom sectors. The coupling constants and decay widths of the predicted states are also calculated.Comment: 15 pages, 1 figure. One numerical error in Eq.16 correcte

ATF3 Sustains IL-22-Induced STAT3 Phosphorylation to Maintain Mucosal Immunity Through Inhibiting Phosphatases

In gut epithelium, IL-22 transmits signals through STAT3 phosphorylation (pSTAT3) which provides intestinal immunity. Many components in the IL-22-pSTAT3 pathway have been identified as risk factors for inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) and some of them are considered as promising therapeutic targets. However, new perspectives are still needed to understand IL-22-pSTAT3 signaling for effective clinical interventions in IBD patients. Here, we revealed activating transcription factor 3 (ATF3), recently identified to be upregulated in patients with active IBD, as a crucial player in the epithelial IL-22-pSTAT3 signaling cascade. We found ATF3 is central to intestinal homeostasis and provides protection during colitis. Loss of ATF3 led to decreased crypt numbers, more shortened colon length, impaired ileal fucosylation at the steady state, and lethal disease activity during DSS-induced colitis which can be effectively ameliorated by rectal transplantation of wild-type colonic organoids. Epithelial stem cells and Paneth cells form a niche to orchestrate epithelial regeneration and host-microbe interactions, and IL-22-pSTAT3 signaling is a key guardian for this niche. We found ATF3 is critical for niche maintenance as ATF3 deficiency caused compromised stem cell growth and regeneration, as well as Paneth cell degeneration and loss of anti-microbial peptide (AMP)-producing granules, indicative of malfunction of Paneth/stem cell network. Mechanistically, we found IL-22 upregulates ATF3, which is required to relay IL-22 signaling leading to STAT3 phosphorylation and subsequent AMP induction. Intriguingly, ATF3 itself does not act on STAT3 directly, instead ATF3 regulates pSTAT3 by negatively targeting protein tyrosine phosphatases (PTPs) including SHP2 and PTP-Meg2. Furthermore, we identified ATF3 is also involved in IL-6-mediated STAT3 activation in T cells and loss of ATF3 leads to reduced capacity of Th17 cells to produce their signature cytokine IL-22 and IL-17A. Collectively, our results suggest that via IL-22-pSTAT3 signaling in the epithelium and IL-6-pSTAT3 signaling in Th17 cells, ATF3 mediates a cross-regulation in the barrier to maintain mucosal homeostasis and immunity