Phase fluctuations-induced bit error ratio of deep-space optical communication systems during superior solar conjunction.

Deep-space optical communication has garnered increasing attention for its high data transfer rate, wide bandwidth, and high transmission speed. However, coronal plasma turbulence severely degrades optical signals during superior solar conjunction. In this study, we introduce the models for plasma density and generalized non-Kolmogorov turbulence power spectrum. Based on these models, we derive the variance of the phase fluctuations with the assistance of the Rytov theory in the weak turbulence regime involving various variables, such as turbulence outer scale, spectral index, relative fluctuation factor, and wavelength. Subsequently, we evaluate the bit error ratio (BER) performance of the deep-space optical communication system, considering phase fluctuations and intensity scintillations, under binary phase shift keying modulation. Numerical calculations reveal that small heliocentric distance, large relative fluctuation factor and spectral index, could induce severe phase fluctuations and high BER. Fortunately, the effects of the plasma irregularities on the BER performance can be mitigated by short optical wavelength under large outer scale.

Recurrent neural network from adder's perspective: Carry-lookahead RNN.

The recurrent network architecture is a widely used model in sequence modeling, but its serial dependency hinders the computation parallelization, which makes the operation inefficient. The same problem was encountered in serial adder at the early stage of digital electronics. In this paper, we discuss the similarities between recurrent neural network (RNN) and serial adder. Inspired by carry-lookahead adder, we introduce carry-lookahead module to RNN, which makes it possible for RNN to run in parallel. Then, we design the method of parallel RNN computation, and finally Carry-lookahead RNN (CL-RNN) is proposed. CL-RNN takes advantages in parallelism and flexible receptive field. Through a comprehensive set of tests, we verify that CL-RNN can perform better than existing typical RNNs in sequence modeling tasks which are specially designed for RNNs. Code and models are available at: https://github.com/WinnieJiangHW/Carry-lookahead_RNN.

Amino-tetrazole functionalized fused triazolo-triazine and tetrazolo-triazine energetic materials.

The synthesis of two fused high-nitrogen compounds and their energetic salts is presented. All new compounds were well characterized by IR and multinuclear NMR spectroscopy, thermal analysis, and elemental analysis. Some of them (5-8, and 11) were further determined by single crystal X-ray diffraction analysis. With high nitrogen contents (59.6-76.8%) and tremendous ring-strain energy, these fused compounds exhibit high positive heats of formation ranging from 2.35 to 4.23 kJ g-1, much higher than those of RDX (0.32 kJ g-1) and HMX (0.25 kJ g-1). The high enthalpies and extensive noncovalent interactions (hydrogen bonds and π-π interaction) impart them with promising detonation performance. Their energetic performance was evaluated using EXPLO5. Among them, compounds 7, 10, and 11 exhibit high densities, good detonation properties, and excellent mechanical stabilities, thereby highlighting their potential applications as new insensitive energetic materials.

The effect of Ramadan fasting and continuing sodium-glucose co-transporter-2 (SGLT2) inhibitor use on ketonemia, blood pressure and renal function in Muslim patients with type 2 diabetes.

OBJECTIVE: The effect of Ramadan fasting and continuing sodium-glucose co-transporter-2 (SGLT2) inhibitor use on ketonemia, blood pressure and renal function in Muslim patients with type 2 diabetes. METHODS: This is a single-centre prospective observational controlled cohort study. Muslim patients aged 21-75 years with type 2 diabetes and estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) ≥ 45 ml/min/1.73 m2 were eligible if they had no contraindication to observe Ramadan fasting. Patients in study group were on stable dose of SGLT2 inhibitor for at least 3 months before enrolment and continued during study period, while patients in control group were not on SGLT2 inhibitor before and during study period. All participants attended baseline visit before Ramadan and follow-up visit during Ramadan. RESULTS: A total of 68 patients of similar baseline characteristics were included in the study: 35 in study group and 33 in control group. During Ramadan fasting, patients from study and control group had similar change in weight (LS mean change of -1.8 versus -1.1 kg, p = 0.205), eGFR (LS mean change of -6.0 versus -4.2 ml/min/1.73 m2, p = 0.399), sitting systolic BP (LS mean change of -8.1 versus -10.4 mmHg, p = 0.569), sitting diastolic BP (LS mean change of -3.7 versus -3.5 mmHg, p = 0.934) and plasma ß-hydroxybutyrate level (LS mean change of -0.01 versus -0.02 mmol/L, p = 0.649). CONCLUSIONS: Ramadan fasting was associated with significant changes in weight, BP and eGFR regardless whether patients were on SGLT2 inhibitor treatment. Continued use of SGLT2 Inhibitors during Ramadan did not increase ketonemia, nor increase risk of eGFR deterioration and hypoglycaemia.

Renal-protective effects of n-hexane layer from morning glory seeds ethanol extract.

Nephrotoxicity is a main problem in cancer patients using cisplatin. Oxidative stress, inflammation and apoptosis are the important mechanisms of cisplatin induced nephrotoxicity. In the present study, we investigated the effect of the extracts of morning glory on nephrotoxicity by cisplatin in human embryonic kidney cells 293 (HEK-293) and mice. Previous studies have reported that morning glory extracts showed potent activity on anti-inflammatory and anti-oxidant. However, the protective effects of the n-hexane layer of morning glory seed (MGs-Hx) on nephrotoxicity and its mechanisms have not been clearly understood. Oral administration with MGs-Hx showed protective effects in vivo experiments test and the treatment of MGs-Hx in a concentration of 100mg/kg/day had significant effect both of decreasing serum creatinine, BUN, serum uric acid level and reduced iNOS, COX-2 mRNA expressions with low side-effect. Moreover, cell viability was restored by MGs-Hx treatment compared to cisplatin-induced nephrotoxic HEK-293 cells. Co-treatment with MGs-Hx and cisplatin showed the significant effect to reduce inflammatory enzyme, iNOS expression and continuous production of NO. In addition, it exhibited a tendency to decreasing expression of apoptosis-related proteins, caspase-3, 8 and 9, and NF-κB translocation to nucleus as well as phosphorylation of p38, JNK, ERK in cisplatin-induced nephrotoxic HEK-293 cells. Our study provides insight into the underlying mechanisms of MGs-Hx and suggests that MGs-Hx might be a potential therapeutic agent to modulate inflammation and apoptosis in nephrotoxicity.

Insulin is an important risk factor of endometrial cancer among premenopausal women: a case-control study in China.

The aim of the article was to evaluate the important role played by insulin in the development of endometrial cancer (EC) among Chinese premenopausal women. In this study, 128 endometrial cancer patients and 294 controls who were all premenopausal were included. Baseline characteristics data were collected and serum insulin, C-peptide, sex hormone-binding globulin, C-reaction protein, interleukin-6, and tumor necrosis factor-α levels were measured. Paired t test, χ(2) test, Spearman correlation coefficients, and univariate and multivariate logistic regression models were used in data analysis. Furthermore, insulin levels were categorized into quartiles, and likelihood ratio was calculated for the four categories. Blood insulin levels of the patients were significantly higher than those of the controls (P < 0.001). Factor analysis identified insulin (OR = 2.46; 95 % confidence interval (CI) = 1.55-3.91; P < 0.001) as the independent risk factor of EC. When insulin levels were categorized into quartiles, we found that insulin was positively associated with endometrial cancer risk [HR comparing extreme quartiles (HR q4-q1) = 4.44; 95 % CI = 2.59-7.62; P trend = 0.025]. After adjustment for body mass index (BMI) or waist-hip ratio (WHR), this association was attenuated, but still significant. In conclusion, insulin plays an important role in the carcinogenesis of EC among premenopausal women. Treatment targeting down-regulation of blood insulin levels seems effective in the prevention of this malignancy.