High-dimensional single photon based quantum secure direct communication using time and phase mode degrees.

Quantum secure direct communication (QSDC) can guarantee security using the characteristics of quantum mechanics even when a message is directly transmitted through a quantum channel without using a secret key. However, the transmission rate of the QSDC is limited by the dead time of a single photon detector (SPD) as well as channel loss over the distance. To overcome this limited transmission rate, we propose a high-dimensional single photon-based QSDC protocol that applies two optical degrees of freedom: time and phase state. First, an N-dimensional time and phase state generation method that considers the dead time is proposed to minimize the measurement loss of a transmitted message. Second, among the two types of quantum states, the phase state with relatively low measurement efficiency is used only for eavesdropping detection, and the time state is used for sending messages with differential delay time bin-based encoding techniques. Lastly, we propose an efficient method for measuring N-dimensional time and phase-based quantum states and recovering classical bit information. This study performs security analysis against various attacks, and verifies the transmission rate improvement effect through simulation. The result indicates that our proposal can guarantee higher security and transmission rates compared to the conventional DL04 QSDC.

Effects of the Diamine Chain End Functionalized Liquid Butadiene Rubber as a Processing Aid on the Properties of Carbon-Black-Filled Rubber Compounds.

The implementation of vehicle electrification and autonomous driving technologies has recently emphasized the importance of abrasion resistance and fuel efficiency of truck bus radial (TBR) tire treads that undergo high loads and long driving times. In this study, a functionalized liquid butadiene rubber (F-LqBR) was introduced to replace the treated distillate aromatic extracted (TDAE) oil as a way to improve abrasion resistance and fuel efficiency in the TBR tire tread compound and to solve the oil migration. First, radical polymerization was used to synthesize nonfunctionalized LqBR (N-LqBR) and amino-LqBR with an amine group at the chain ends. The synthesized LqBRs were then substituted in place of TDAE oil to manufacture carbon-black-filled natural rubber (NR) compounds and to evaluate their physical properties. The results show that LqBRs improved the migration resistance and enhanced the abrasion resistance by lowering the glass transition temperature (Tg) of the compound. In particular, amino-LqBR improved carbon black dispersion in the rubber matrix through a chemical bond between the functional group of the carbon black surface and the base rubber. In conclusion, amino-LqBR successfully served as a processing aid in a carbon black-filled NR compound while simultaneously enhancing its fuel efficiency and abrasion resistance.

Effect of the Functional Group Position in Functionalized Liquid Butadiene Rubbers Used as Processing Aids on the Properties of Silica-Filled Rubber Compounds.

Recently, research conducted on tread compounds with liquid butadiene rubber (LqBR) have been conducted in the tire industry. In particular, the introduction of functional groups into LqBRs is expected to lower hysteresis loss caused by the free chain ends of LqBR. To study this, LqBRs with functional groups at different positions were synthesized. The occurrences of in-chain and chain-end functionalization of functionalized LqBRs (F-LqBRs) were confirmed, the microstructure and functionalization efficiency of F-LqBRs were calculated through the characterizations. This novel functionalization technology was beneficial not only to immobilizing the free chain ends of LqBRs to the surfaces of silica to decrease the number of free chain ends, but also chemically bonding the LqBR chains on the base polymer through a crosslinking reaction to enhance the filler-rubber interaction. The effects of the functional group position and number of the free chain ends on the physical properties and hysteresis of the compounds were investigated by partially replacing the treated distillate aromatic extract (TDAE) oil with LqBR in silica-filled rubber compounds. The results showed that compounds that had applied DF-LqBR with both end functionalization performed better, including improving the silica dispersion, higher extraction resistance, and lower rolling resistance, than other F-LqBRs compounds.

Effects of Molecular Weight of Functionalized Liquid Butadiene Rubber as a Processing Aid on the Properties of SSBR/Silica Compounds.

Liquid butadiene rubber (LqBR) which used as a processing aid play a vital role in the manufacturing of high-performance tire tread compounds. However, the studies on the effect of molecular weight, microstructure, and functionalization of LqBR on the properties of compounds are still insufficient. In this study, non-functionalized and center-functionalized liquid butadiene rubbers (N-LqBR and C-LqBR modified with ethoxysilyl group, respectively) were synthesized with low vinyl content and different molecular weights using anionic polymerization. In addition, LqBR was added to the silica-filled SSBR compounds as an alternative to treated distillate aromatic extract (TDAE) oil, and the effect of molecular weight and functionalization on the properties of the silica-filled SSBR compound was examined. C-LqBR showed a low Payne effect and Mooney viscosity because of improved silica dispersion due to the ethoxysilyl functional group. Furthermore, C-LqBR showed an increased crosslink density, improved mechanical properties, and reduced organic matter extraction compared to the N-LqBR compound. LqBR reduced the glass transition temperature (Tg) of the compound significantly, thereby improving snow traction and abrasion resistance compared to TDAE oil. Furthermore, the energy loss characteristics revealed that the hysteresis loss attributable to the free chain ends of LqBR was dominant.

Effect of Epoxide Content on the Vulcanizate Structure of Silica-Filled Epoxidized Natural Rubber (ENR) Compounds.

The demand for truck-bus radial (TBR) tires with enhanced fuel efficiency has grown in recent years. Many studies have investigated silica-filled natural rubber (NR) compounds to address these needs. However, silica-filled compounds offer inferior abrasion resistance compared to carbon black-filled compounds. Further, the use of NR as a base rubber can hinder silanization and coupling reactions due to interference by proteins and lipids. Improved silica dispersion be achieved without the use of a silane coupling agent by introducing epoxide groups to NR, which serve as silica-affinitive functional groups. Furthermore, the coupling reaction can be promoted by facilitating chemical interaction between the hydroxyl group of silica and the added epoxide groups. Thus, this study evaluated the properties of commercialized NR, ENR-25, and ENR-50 compounds with or without an added silane coupling agent, and the filler-rubber interaction was quantitatively calculated using vulcanizate structure analysis. The increased epoxide content, when the silane coupling agent was not used, improved silica dispersion, abrasion resistance, fuel efficiency, and wet grip. Once a basic level of silica dispersion was secured by using the silane coupling agent, both the abrasion resistance and wet grip improved with increasing epoxide content. Furthermore, the silane coupling agent could be partially replaced by ENR due to the high filler-rubber interaction between the ENR and silica. Therefore, epoxidation shows potential for resolving the issues associated with poor coupling reactions and abrasion resistance in silica-filled NR compounds.

Comprehensive analysis of microbial dynamics linked with the reduction of odorous compounds in a full-scale swine manure pit recharge system with recirculation of aerobically treated liquid fertilizer.

It is believed that the generation of odorous materials in manure-slurry pits during the storage can be reduced by recirculating aerobically treated liquid fertilizer (ATLF) to a manure-pit recharge system (PRS). However, the biological mechanisms for reduction of those problematic compounds remain poorly understood. In this study, the links between microbial evolution and changes in chemical composition and odorous compounds were analyzed where swine-manure slurry was stored in a full-scale PRS. Some beneficial microorganisms were successfully established in the PRS. This resulted in the accumulation of fewer undesirable chemical components and lower amounts of odorous compounds compared to those in a conventional swine-manure slurry pit (the control). Decrease in the volatile fatty acids (1387-8478 mg/L â†’ 306-1258 mg/L) and NH3 (3387-4300 mg/L â†’ 85-200 mg/L) in the PRS was mainly due to the development of a key community that included a mix of aerobic, anaerobic fermentative, nitrifying (0.1-0.6%) and denitrifying (1.7-3.5%), and methanogenic microorganisms (2.1-4.2%). Meanwhile, the generation of greater amounts of H2S (12-290 mg/L â†’ 61-1754 mg/L) was found in the PRS, which condition was supported by the increased proportion of sulfate-reducing bacteria (0.5-3%). To the authors' best knowledge this is the first study comprehensively analyzing microbial dynamics linked with the reduction of odorous compounds in the full-scale PRS in response to recirculation of ATLF.

Vulcanizate Structures of SBR Compounds with Silica and Carbon Black Binary Filler Systems at Different Curing Temperatures.

The tire industry has shown an increasing demand for the reduction in rolling resistance. Efforts have been made to improve the viscoelastic properties of tire compounds and reduce the weight of tires through optimization of the vulcanizate structure, which has become extremely complex. In this study, vulcanizates using carbon black and silica as binary fillers were prepared at various curing temperatures. Vulcanizate structures with respect to curing temperature were classified according to the chemical crosslink density by sulfur, carbon black bound rubber (i.e., physical crosslink due to carbon black), and silica-silane-rubber network. All properties exhibited a decreasing trend under the application of high curing temperatures, and the decrease in the crosslink density per unit content of filler with an increase in curing temperature was shown to be greater in carbon black than in silica. Mechanical and viscoelastic properties were also measured to evaluate the impact that the compound variates have on tire tread performance. These results serve as a guideline for determining the content and filler type and for setting the cure condition during the design of actual compound formulations to increase the crosslink density of rubber while retaining the necessary mechanical and viscoelastic properties for practical application.

Effect of Calcium Chloride as a Coagulant on the Properties of ESBR/Silica Wet Masterbatch Compound.

When designing rubber compounds for high-performance tires, increasing the silica content can improve the wet traction performance but decreases the fuel efficiency. This trade-off relation makes it difficult to improve the two factors simultaneously. One approach is the development of silica wet masterbatch (WMB) technology for producing compounds containing a high silica content with good dispersion. The technology involves a step to mix surface-modified silica and rubber latex. The technique requires a coagulant to break up the micelles of the rubber latex and cause the surface-modified silica and the rubber molecules to co-coagulate due to van der Waals forces. In this study, the effect of coagulant type on the characteristics of silica surface, and the mechanical properties of the emulsion styrene-butadiene rubber (ESBR)/silica WMB compounds was investigated, as well as the abrasion properties and the viscoelastic properties of the vulcanizates.

Effect of Proton Pump Inhibitors in Bronchiectatic Patients with Gastroesophageal Reflux Disease.

BACKGROUND/AIMS: Bronchiectasis is aggravated by gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) owing to micro aspiration. Some researchers note the effect of antireflux surgery in bronchiectasis with GERD. However, few have investigated the effects of medical antireflux therapy. We investigated the effect of proton pump inhibitors (PPIs) in bronchiectasis with GERD. METHODS: From March 2003 to May 2015, the clinical records of patients who had bronchiectasis with GERD were reviewed. Patients underwent an initial pulmonary function test (PFT) and chest computed tomography when diagnosed with bronchiectasis. One group with typical GERD symptoms was treated with PPIs, while the other group was not. Both groups underwent PFTs within six months after completing PPI therapy. Population characteristics and associations were compared between the groups. RESULTS: Two hundred and fifty-seven patients (124 male, 133 female; mean age 67.6±10.0 years) were included. There were no significant differences between the groups in terms of forced vital capacity (FVC; p=0.239), forced expiratory volume in one second (FEV1; p=0.555), or FEV1/FVC (p=0.374) after PPI therapy. However, there were significant improvements in FVC (p=0.002) and FEV1 (p=0.006) in patients with high BMI in the PPI treatment group. CONCLUSIONS: PPIs have no effect on the pulmonary function in patients with bronchiectasis and GERD. However, PPIs were noted to produce improvements in lung function in patients with bronchiectasis and high BMI.

[Proton Pump Inhibitor-responsive Esophageal Eosinophilia: An Overview of Cases from One University Hospital Center].

BACKGROUND/AIMS: Eosinophilic esophagitis (EoE) is a chronic, immune/antigen-mediated esophageal disease, with eosinophilic infiltration limited to the esophagus. A minority of EoE patients respond well to proton pump inhibitor (PPI) therapy alone, and that condition is labelled PPI-responsive esophageal eosinophilia (PPI-REE). The prevalence of PPI-REE among EoE cases is unknown. We aimed to identify clinical manifestations of PPI-REE, and the proportion of PPI-REE among all EoE cases. METHODS: We reviewed pathology of the 4,075 patients who underwent esophageal biopsy at an institution from March 2003 to July 2015. EoE was diagnosed based on esophageal symptoms and eosinophilic infiltration limited to the esophagus, with ≥15 eosinophils per high-power field. We collected endoscopic and pathologic findings, and clinical features for these patients. RESULTS: Thirteen (0.3%) patients were diagnosed with EoE. Clinical manifestations were dysphagia (30.8%), foreign body sensation (23.1%), regurgitation (23.1%), cough (15.4%), heartburn (15.4%), nausea (7.7%), dyspepsia (7.7%). The endoscopic findings noted were polypoid lesion (23.1%), whitish plaque or exudate (23.1%), linear furrow (7.7%), concentric ring (7.7%), nodularity (7.7%), erosion (7.7%), and normal (30.8%). Of these patients, five had a favorable course with PPI as monotherapy. CONCLUSIONS: The proportion of EoE among all patients undergoing endoscopic biopsy was 0.3%. Of those, PPI-REE comprised 38%. Most of the endoscopic findings were atypical or normal when compared to the typical findings in EoE. In conclusion, patients who present with symptoms related to esophageal dysfunction need esophageal biopsy, regardless of the endoscopic findings. Moreover, patients diagnosed with EoE need to be treated first with PPI alone.