Integrable Open Spin Chains from Flavored ABJM Theory

We compute the two-loop anomalous dimension matrix in the scalar sector of planar ${\cal N}=3$ flavored ABJM theory. Using coordinate Bethe ansatz, we obtain the reflection matrix and confirm that the boundary Yang-Baxter equations are satisfied. This establishes the integrability of this theory in the scalar sector at the two-loop order.Comment: v2, 25 pages, 2 figures, minor corrections, references adde

Safety of low-dose dobutamine stress test in coronary slow flow phenomenon

Purpose: To investigate the feasibility and safety of a low-dose dobutamine stress test in coronary slow flow phenomenon (CSFP) patients.Methods: One hundred and forty-two CSFP patients, and forty-four patients without CSFP or significant epicardial coronary stenosis who served as the control group, were retrospectively reviewed. All patients were infused intravenously with dobutamine at an initial infusion rate of 5 μg/kg/min which was then increased at 8-min intervals to 10, 15, and 20 μg/kg/min. Symptoms and echocardiography were monitored simultaneously.Results: Patient tolerance decreased as the doses of dobutamine increased. No termination of the test occurred without dobutamine or at the infusion rate of 5 μg/kg/min. Nonetheless, when the infusion rates were adjusted to 15 and 20 μg/kg/min, the incident of side effects reached up to 30.9 %, and a few patients experienced ST-segment depression in precordial electrocardiographic leads. There were no induced arrhythmias without dobutamine, while the incidence of arrhythmias was highest at the infusion rate of 20 μg/kg/min. Malignant arrhythmias such as ventricular fibrillation and sustained ventricular tachycardia, were not detected. No significant differences were showed in echocardiogram result for left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) between CSFP and control group (63.7±7.9 in the CSFP group, versus 64.3±7.2 in the control group; p = 0.63).Conclusion: A low-dose dobutamine stress test is safe and feasible in CSFP patients

Understanding Concurrency Vulnerabilities in Linux Kernel

While there is a large body of work on analyzing concurrency related software bugs and developing techniques for detecting and patching them, little attention has been given to concurrency related security vulnerabilities. The two are different in that not all bugs are vulnerabilities: for a bug to be exploitable, there needs be a way for attackers to trigger its execution and cause damage, e.g., by revealing sensitive data or running malicious code. To fill the gap, we conduct the first empirical study of concurrency vulnerabilities reported in the Linux operating system in the past ten years. We focus on analyzing the confirmed vulnerabilities archived in the Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures (CVE) database, which are then categorized into different groups based on bug types, exploit patterns, and patch strategies adopted by developers. We use code snippets to illustrate individual vulnerability types and patch strategies. We also use statistics to illustrate the entire landscape, including the percentage of each vulnerability type. We hope to shed some light on the problem, e.g., concurrency vulnerabilities continue to pose a serious threat to system security, and it is difficult even for kernel developers to analyze and patch them. Therefore, more efforts are needed to develop tools and techniques for analyzing and patching these vulnerabilities.Comment: It was finished in Oct 201

All exact traveling wave solutions of the combined KdV-mKdV equation

In this article, we employ the complex method to obtain all meromorphic solutions of complex combined Korteweg-de Vries-modified Korteweg-de Vries equation (KdV-mKdV equation) at first, then we find all exact traveling wave solutions of the combined KdV-mKdV equation. The idea introduced in this paper can be applied to other nonlinear evolution equations. Our results show that all rational and simply periodic exact traveling wave solutions of the combined KdV-mKdV equation are solitary wave solutions, the complex method is simpler than other methods, and there exist some rational solutions wr,2(z)wr,2(z) and simply periodic solutions ws,2(z)ws,2(z) such that they are not only new but also not degenerated successively by the elliptic function solutions. We believe that this method should play an important role in finding exact solutions in mathematical physics. We also give some computer simulations to illustrate our main results

SMAD7 polymorphisms and colorectal cancer risk: a meta-analysis of case-control studies

Mothers against decapentaplegic homolog 7 (SMAD7) inhibits the transforming growth factor-β (TGF-β) signaling pathway, which regulates carcinogenesis and cancer progression. A number of studies have reported that SMAD7 polymorphisms (rs4464148, rs4939827, and rs12953717) are associated with colorectal cancer (CRC) risk, but the results from these studies remain conflicting. To determine a more precise estimation of the relationship between SMAD7 and CRC, we undertook a large-scale meta-analysis of 63 studies, which included a total of 187,181 subjects (86,585 cases and 100,596 controls). The results of our meta-analysis revealed that the C allele of rs4464148 [CC vs. TT+TC, odds ratio (OR) =1.23, 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.14-1.33, P < 0.01], the T allele of rs4939827 [TT vs. CC+TC, odds ratio OR=1.15, 95%CI:1.07-1.22, P < 0.01] and the T allele of rs12953717 [TT vs. CC+TC, OR =1.22, 95%CI:1.16-1.29, P < 0.01] were all associated with the increased CRC risk. Subgroup analysis according to ethnicity showed rs4464148 and rs12953717 were associated with the risk of CRC in both Caucasians and Asians, whereas rs4939827 was a risk polymorphism for CRC specifically in Caucasians. In summary, this large-scale meta-analysis indicated that SMAD7 polymorphisms (rs4464148, rs4939827, and rs12953717) correlate with CRC