Statistical Origin of Constituent-Quark Scaling in the QGP hadronization

Nonextensive statistics in a Blast-Wave model (TBW) is implemented to describe the identified hadron production in relativistic p+p and nucleus-nucleus collisions. Incorporating the core and corona components within the TBW formalism allows us to describe simultaneously some of the major observations in hadronic observables at the Relativistic Heavy-Ion Collider (RHIC): the Number of Constituent Quark Scaling (NCQ), the large radial and elliptic flow, the effect of gluon saturation and the suppression of hadron production at high transverse momentum (pT) due to jet quenching. In this formalism, the NCQ scaling at RHIC appears as a consequence of non-equilibrium process. Our study also provides concise reference distributions with a least chi2 fit of the available experimental data for future experiments and models.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figures; added two tables, explained a little bit more on TBW_p

Functional annotation of proteomic data from chicken heterophils and macrophages induced by carbon nanotube exposure

With the expanding applications of carbon nanotubes (CNT) in biomedicine and agriculture, questions about the toxicity and biocompatibility of CNT in humans and domestic animals are becoming matters of serious concern. This study used proteomic methods to profile gene expression in chicken macrophages and heterophils in response to CNT exposure. Two-dimensional gel electrophoresis identified 12 proteins in macrophages and 15 in heterophils, with differential expression patterns in response to CNT co-incubation (0, 1, 10, and 100 µg/mL of CNT for 6 h) (p < 0.05). Gene ontology analysis showed that most of the differentially expressed proteins are associated with protein interactions, cellular metabolic processes, and cell mobility, suggesting activation of innate immune functions. Western blot analysis with heat shock protein 70, high mobility group protein, and peptidylprolyl isomerase A confirmed the alterations of the profiled proteins. The functional annotations were further confirmed by effective cell migration, promoted interleukin-1β secretion, and more cell death in both macrophages and heterophils exposed to CNT (p < 0.05). In conclusion, results of this study suggest that CNT exposure affects protein expression, leading to activation of macrophages and heterophils, resulting in altered cytoskeleton remodeling, cell migration, and cytokine production, and thereby mediates tissue immune responses

Experimental unconditionally secure bit commitment

Bit commitment is a fundamental cryptographic task that guarantees a secure commitment between two mutually mistrustful parties and is a building block for many cryptographic primitives, including coin tossing, zero-knowledge proofs, oblivious transfer and secure two-party computation. Unconditionally secure bit commitment was thought to be impossible until recent theoretical protocols that combine quantum mechanics and relativity were shown to elude previous impossibility proofs. Here we implement such a bit commitment protocol. In the experiment, the committer performs quantum measurements using two quantum key distribution systems and the results are transmitted via free-space optical communication to two agents separated with more than 20 km. The security of the protocol relies on the properties of quantum information and relativity theory. We show that, in each run of the experiment, a bit is successfully committed with less than 5.68*10^-2 cheating probability. Our result demonstrates unconditionally secure bit commitment and the experimental feasibility of relativistic quantum communication.Comment: 15 pages, 2 figure

Transcriptomic analyses of regenerating adult feathers in chicken

Transcriptome Expression Data. Table of mapped reads to Galgal4 transcripts for all 15 data sets. FPKM (Fragments per kilobase of exon per million fragments mapped): normalized transcript abundance values for each gene in the indicated tissues. (CSV 1314 kb

The color gradients of spiral disks in the Sloan Digital Sky Survey

We investigate the radial color gradients of galactic disks using a sample of about 20,000 face-on spiral galaxies selected from the fourth data release of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS-DR4). We combine galaxies with similar concentration, size and luminosity to construct composite galaxies, and then measure their color profiles by stacking the azimuthally averaged radial color profiles of all the member galaxies. Except for the smallest galaxies (R_{50}<3 kpc), almost all galaxies show negative disk color gradients with mean g-r gradient G_{gr}=-0.006 mag kpc^{-1} and r-z gradient G_{rz}=-0.018 mag kpc^{-1}. The disk color gradients are independent of the morphological types of galaxies and strongly dependent on the disk surface brightness \mu_{d}, with lower surface brightness galactic disks having steeper color gradients. We quantify the intrinsic correlation between color gradients and surface brightness as G_{gr}=-0.011\mu_{d}+0.233 and G_{rz}=-0.015\mu_{d}+0.324. These quantified correlations provide tight observational constraints on the formation and evolution models of spiral galaxies.Comment: 20 pages, 5 figures, Accepted for publication in RAA (Research in Astronomy and Astrophysics

Increase of ATP-sensitive potassium (KATP) channels in the heart of type-1 diabetic rats

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>An impairment of cardiovascular function in streptozotocin (STZ)-diabetic rats has been mentioned within 5 days-to-3 months of induction. ATP-sensitive potassium (K_ATP) channels are expressed on cardiac sarcolemmal membranes. It is highly responsive to metabolic fluctuations and can have effects on cardiac contractility. The present study attempted to clarify the changes of cardiac K_ATPchannels in diabetic disorders.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Streptozotocin-induced diabetic rats and neonatal rat cardiomyocytes treated with a high concentration of glucose (a D-glucose concentration of 30 mM was used and cells were cultured for 24 hr) were used to examine the effect of hyperglycemia on cardiac function and the expression of K_ATPchannels. K_ATPchannels expression was found to be linked to cardiac tonic dysfunction, and we evaluated the expression levels of K_ATPchannels by Western blot and Northern blot analysis.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The result shows diazoxide produced a marked reduction of heart rate in control group. Furthermore, the methods of Northern blotting and Western blotting were employed to identify the gene expression of K_ATPchannel. Two subunits of cardiac K_ATPchannel (SUR2A and kir 6.2) were purchased as indicators and showed significantly decreased in both diabetic rats and high glucose treated rat cardiac myocytes. Correction of hyperglycemia by insulin or phlorizin restored the gene expression of cardiac K_ATPin these diabetic rats.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Both mRNA and protein expression of cardiac K_ATPchannels are decreased in diabetic rats induced by STZ for 8 weeks. This phenomenon leads to result in desensitization of some K_ATPchannel drugs.</p

Enrollment-stage Backdoor Attacks on Speaker Recognition Systems via Adversarial Ultrasound

Automatic Speaker Recognition Systems (SRSs) have been widely used in voice applications for personal identification and access control. A typical SRS consists of three stages, i.e., training, enrollment, and recognition. Previous work has revealed that SRSs can be bypassed by backdoor attacks at the training stage or by adversarial example attacks at the recognition stage. In this paper, we propose TUNER, a new type of backdoor attack against the enrollment stage of SRS via adversarial ultrasound modulation, which is inaudible, synchronization-free, content-independent, and black-box. Our key idea is to first inject the backdoor into the SRS with modulated ultrasound when a legitimate user initiates the enrollment, and afterward, the polluted SRS will grant access to both the legitimate user and the adversary with high confidence. Our attack faces a major challenge of unpredictable user articulation at the enrollment stage. To overcome this challenge, we generate the ultrasonic backdoor by augmenting the optimization process with random speech content, vocalizing time, and volume of the user. Furthermore, to achieve real-world robustness, we improve the ultrasonic signal over traditional methods using sparse frequency points, pre-compensation, and single-sideband (SSB) modulation. We extensively evaluate TUNER on two common datasets and seven representative SRS models. Results show that our attack can successfully bypass speaker recognition systems while remaining robust to various speakers, speech content, e

Poly[{μ2-1,2-bis­[4-(3-pyrid­yl)pyrimidin-2-ylsulfan­yl]ethane}di-μ2-cyanido-dicopper(I)]

The asymmetric unit of the title complex, [Cu2(CN)2(C20H16N6S2)]n, contains one CuI cation, one cyanide ligand and half of a centrosymmetric 1,2-bis­[4-(3-pyrid­yl)pyrimidin-2-ylsulfan­yl]ethane (bppe) ligand. The CuI atom displays a trigonal coordination geometry, being surrounded by one C atom from one cyanide anion and two N atoms from one cyanide and one bppe ligand. In the complex, each cyanide anion links two CuI atoms in a bis-monodentate mode into a zigzag [–Cu—CN–]n chain. Two parallel chains are linked by bppe ligands into a ladder chain