2,3-Dichloro­pyridine

The complete mol­ecule of the title compound, C5H3Cl2N, is generated by crystallographic twofold symmetry, which forces the pyridine N atom and the opposite C—H group to be statistically disordered. In the crystal, weak aromatic π–π stacking [centroid–centroid separation = 3.805 (4) Å and slippage = 1.704 Å] leads to [100] stacks of mol­ecules. Short Cl⋯Cl contacts [3.334 (3) Å] are also observed

1-Cyano-N-(2,4,5-trichloro­phen­yl)cyclo­propane-1-carboxamide

In the title compound, C11H7Cl3N3O, the dihedral angle between the benzene and cyclo­propane rings is 85.8 (2)°. In the crystal, mol­ecules are linked by C—H⋯O inter­actions, generating C(5) chains propagating in the a-axis direction

Quantum Bit Commitment with Application in Quantum Zero-Knowledge Proof

Watrous (STOC 2006) proved that plugging classical bit commitment scheme that is secure against quantum attack into the GMW-type construction of zero-knowledge gives a classical zero-knowledge proof that is secure against quantum attack. In this paper, we showed that plugging quantum bit commitment scheme (allowing quantum computation and communication) into the GMW-type construction also gives a quantum zero-knowledge proof, as one expects. However, since the binding condition of quantum bit commitment scheme is inherently different from its classical counterpart, compared with Watrous\u27 security proof, here we encounter new difficulty in soundness analysis. To overcome the difficulty, we take a geometric approach, managing to reduce quantum soundness analysis to classical soundness analysis. We also propose a formalization of non-interactive quantum bit commitment scheme, which may come in handy in other places. Moreover, inspired by our formalization, we generalize Naor\u27s construction of bit commitment scheme to the quantum setting, achieving non-interactive commit stage. We hope quantum bit commitment scheme can find more applications in quantum cryptography

Seroprevalence of Toxoplasma gondii infection in household and stray cats in Lanzhou, northwest China

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p><it>Toxoplasma gondii </it>is an important protozoan parasite infecting humans and almost all warm-blooded animals. As the only definitive host, cats play a crucial role in the transmission of <it>T. gondii </it>infection by shedding parasite oocysts in their feces. However, little information on <it>T. gondii </it>infection in cats was available in Lanzhou, northwest China. This study was performed to determine the seroprevalence of <it>T. gondii </it>infection in household and stray cats in Lanzhou, northwest China.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>A total of 221 (179 households and 42 strays) blood samples were collected from clinically healthy cats admitted to several pet hospitals located in Lanzhou City, between November 2010 and July 2011 for the serological detection of <it>T. gondii </it>infection. The majority (207) of these cats represented Chinese Lihua cats. 47 of 221 (21.3%) examined cats were seropositive for <it>T. gondii </it>infection using the modified agglutination test (MAT) at the cut-off of 1:25. The seroprevalence in household and stray cats was assessed to be 15.6% and 45.2%, respectively, and the difference was statistically significant (<it>P <</it>0.05). The seroprevalence ranged from 15.1% to 25.8% among different age groups, but the differences were not statistically significant (<it>P ></it>0.05). Studies showed that there was no relationship between seroprevalence and the gender (<it>P ></it>0.05).</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>The present survey indicated the high seroprevalence of <it>T. gondii </it>in cats in Lanzhou, northwest China, which poses a threat to animal and human health. Therefore, measures should be taken to control and prevent toxoplasmosis of cats in this area.</p

4-Methyl-N-[(2-oxo-1,3-thia­zolidin-3-yl)carbon­yl]benzene­sulfonamide

The asymmetric unit of the title compound, C11H12N2O4S2, contains two independent mol­ecules with similar dihedral angles of 76.7 (1) and 77.3 (1)° between the mean planes of the five- and six-membered rings. In both mol­ecules, the amino groups are involved in intra­molecular N—H⋯O hydrogen bonds. In the crystal structure, weak inter­molecular C—H⋯O hydrogen bonds link mol­ecules into ribbons extended along the a axis

(E)-(4-Bromo­benzyl­idene)amino cyclo­propane­carboxyl­ate

In the title compound, C11H10BrNO2, the dihedral angle between the benzene and cyclo­propane ring planes is 49.4 (3)°. The C—C—N—O torsion angle is −175.1 (3)°, which indicates that the C=N double bond is in the E configuration

Radiological Imaging for Assessing the Respectability of Hilar Cholangiocarcinoma: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Hilar cholangiocarcinoma (HCC) remains one of the most difficult tumors to stage and treat. The aim of the study was to assess the diagnostic efficiency of computed tomography (CT), magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), and positron emission tomography/computer tomography (PET/CT) in evaluating the resectability of HCC. A systematic search was performed of the PubMed, EMBASE, and Cochrane databases. Sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value (PPV), negative predictive value (NPV), and diagnostic accuracy were calculated for individual studies and pooled data as well as test for heterogeneity and public bias. Our data showed that CT had the highest pooled sensitivity at 95% (95% CI: 91-97), whereas PET/CT had the highest pooled specificity at 81% (95% CI: 69-90). The area under the curve (AUC) of CT, MRI, and PET/CT was 0.9269, 0.9194, and 0.9218, respectively. In conclusion, CT is the most frequently used imaging modality to assess HCC resectability with a good sensitivity and specificity. MRI was generally comparable with that of CT and can be used as an alternative imaging technique. PET/CT appears to be the best technique in detecting lymph node and distant metastasis in HCC but has no clear role in helping to evaluate issues of local resectability

Real-time Monitoring for the Next Core-Collapse Supernova in JUNO

Core-collapse supernova (CCSN) is one of the most energetic astrophysical events in the Universe. The early and prompt detection of neutrinos before (pre-SN) and during the SN burst is a unique opportunity to realize the multi-messenger observation of the CCSN events. In this work, we describe the monitoring concept and present the sensitivity of the system to the pre-SN and SN neutrinos at the Jiangmen Underground Neutrino Observatory (JUNO), which is a 20 kton liquid scintillator detector under construction in South China. The real-time monitoring system is designed with both the prompt monitors on the electronic board and online monitors at the data acquisition stage, in order to ensure both the alert speed and alert coverage of progenitor stars. By assuming a false alert rate of 1 per year, this monitoring system can be sensitive to the pre-SN neutrinos up to the distance of about 1.6 (0.9) kpc and SN neutrinos up to about 370 (360) kpc for a progenitor mass of 30$M_{\odot}$ for the case of normal (inverted) mass ordering. The pointing ability of the CCSN is evaluated by using the accumulated event anisotropy of the inverse beta decay interactions from pre-SN or SN neutrinos, which, along with the early alert, can play important roles for the followup multi-messenger observations of the next Galactic or nearby extragalactic CCSN.Comment: 24 pages, 9 figure

Differential cross section measurements for the production of a W boson in association with jets in proton–proton collisions at √s = 7 TeV

Measurements are reported of differential cross sections for the production of a W boson, which decays into a muon and a neutrino, in association with jets, as a function of several variables, including the transverse momenta (pT) and pseudorapidities of the four leading jets, the scalar sum of jet transverse momenta (HT), and the difference in azimuthal angle between the directions of each jet and the muon. The data sample of pp collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of 7 TeV was collected with the CMS detector at the LHC and corresponds to an integrated luminosity of 5.0 fb[superscript −1]. The measured cross sections are compared to predictions from Monte Carlo generators, MadGraph + pythia and sherpa, and to next-to-leading-order calculations from BlackHat + sherpa. The differential cross sections are found to be in agreement with the predictions, apart from the pT distributions of the leading jets at high pT values, the distributions of the HT at high-HT and low jet multiplicity, and the distribution of the difference in azimuthal angle between the leading jet and the muon at low values.United States. Dept. of EnergyNational Science Foundation (U.S.)Alfred P. Sloan Foundatio