1,261 research outputs found
Why material slow light does not improve cavity-enhanced atom detection
We discuss the prospects for enhancing absorption and scattering of light
from a weakly coupled atom in a high-finesse optical cavity by adding a medium
with large, positive group index of refraction. The slow-light effect is known
to narrow the cavity transmission spectrum and increase the photon lifetime,
but the quality factor of the cavity may not be increased in a metrologically
useful sense. Specifically, detection of the weakly coupled atom through either
cavity ringdown measurements or the Purcell effect fails to improve with the
addition of material slow light. A single-atom model of the dispersive medium
helps elucidate why this is the case.Comment: 11 pages, 4 figures; QuTiP python file included. This version:
changed title and added several references; results are unchanged. Accepted
for open access publication in a special issue of Journal of Modern Optics in
memory of Prof Danny Segal. Publisher's version available at
http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/09500340.2017.138451
Early handling and repeated cross-fostering have opposite effect on mouse emotionality
Early life events have a crucial role in programming the individual phenotype and exposure to traumatic experiences during infancy can increase later risk for a variety of neuropsychiatric conditions, including mood and anxiety disorders. Animal models of postnatal stress have been developed in rodents to explore molecular mechanisms responsible for the observed short and long lasting neurobiological effects of such manipulations. The main aim of this study was to compare the behavioral and hormonal phenotype of young and adult animals exposed to different postnatal treatments. Outbred mice were exposed to (i) the classical Handling protocol (H: 15 min-day of separation from the mother from day 1 to 14 of life) or to (ii) a Repeated Cross-Fostering protocol (RCF: adoption of litters from day 1 to 4 of life by different dams). Handled mice received more maternal care in infancy and showed the already described reduced emotionality at adulthood. Repeated cross fostered animals did not differ for maternal care received, but showed enhanced sensitivity to separation from the mother in infancy and altered respiratory response to 6% CO2 in breathing air in comparison with controls. Abnormal respiratory responses to hypercapnia are commonly found among humans with panic disorders (PD), and point to RCF-induced instability of the early environment as a valid developmental model for PD. The comparisons between short-and long-term effects of postnatal handling vs. RCF indicate that different types of early adversities are associated with different behavioral profiles, and evoke psychopathologies that can be distinguished according to the neurobiological systems disrupted by early-life manipulation
Ochrobactrum sp. MPV1 from a dump of roasted pyrites can be exploited as bacterial catalyst for the biogenesis of selenium and tellurium nanoparticles
Background: Bacteria have developed different mechanisms for the transformation of metalloid oxyanions to non-toxic chemical forms. A number of bacterial isolates so far obtained in axenic culture has shown the ability to bioreduce selenite and tellurite to the elemental state in different conditions along with the formation of nanoparticles-both inside and outside the cells-characterized by a variety of morphological features. This reductive process can be considered of major importance for two reasons: firstly, toxic and soluble (i.e. bioavailable) compounds such as selenite and tellurite are converted to a less toxic chemical forms (i.e. zero valent state); secondly, chalcogen nanoparticles have attracted great interest due to their photoelectric and semiconducting properties. In addition, their exploitation as antimicrobial agents is currently becoming an area of intensive research in medical sciences. Results: In the present study, the bacterial strain Ochrobactrum sp. MPV1, isolated from a dump of roasted arsenopyrites as residues of a formerly sulfuric acid production near Scarlino (Tuscany, Italy) was analyzed for its capability of efficaciously bioreducing the chalcogen oxyanions selenite (SeO32-) and tellurite (TeO32-) to their respective elemental forms (Se0 and Te0) in aerobic conditions, with generation of Se- and Te-nanoparticles (Se- and TeNPs). The isolate could bioconvert 2 mM SeO32- and 0.5 mM TeO32- to the corresponding Se0 and Te0 in 48 and 120 h, respectively. The intracellular accumulation of nanomaterials was demonstrated through electron microscopy. Moreover, several analyses were performed to shed light on the mechanisms involved in SeO32- and TeO32- bioreduction to their elemental states. Results obtained suggested that these oxyanions are bioconverted through two different mechanisms in Ochrobactrum sp. MPV1. Glutathione (GSH) seemed to play a key role in SeO32- bioreduction, while TeO32- bioconversion could be ascribed to the catalytic activity of intracellular NADH-dependent oxidoreductases. The organic coating surrounding biogenic Se- and TeNPs was also characterized through Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy. This analysis revealed interesting differences among the NPs produced by Ochrobactrum sp. MPV1 and suggested a possible different role of phospholipids and proteins in both biosynthesis and stabilization of such chalcogen-NPs. Conclusions: In conclusion, Ochrobactrum sp. MPV1 has demonstrated to be an ideal candidate for the bioconversion of toxic oxyanions such as selenite and tellurite to their respective elemental forms, producing intracellular Se- and TeNPs possibly exploitable in biomedical and industrial applications.[Figure not available: see fulltext.
Antimicrobial activity of biogenically produced spherical Se-nanomaterials embedded in organic material against Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Staphylococcus aureus strains on hydroxyapatite-coated surfaces
In an effort to prevent the formation of pathogenic biofilms on hydroxyapatite (HA)-based clinical devices and surfaces, we present a study evaluating the antimicrobial efficacy of Spherical biogenic Se-Nanostructures Embedded in Organic material (Bio Se-NEMO-S) produced by Bacillus mycoides SelTE01 in comparison with two different chemical selenium nanoparticle (SeNP) classes. These nanomaterials have been studied as potential antimicrobials for eradication of established HA-grown biofilms, for preventing biofilm formation on HA-coated surfaces and for inhibition of planktonic cell growth of Pseudomonas aeruginosa NCTC 12934 and Staphylococcus aureus ATCC 25923. Bio Se-NEMO resulted more efficacious than those chemically produced in all tested scenarios. Bio Se-NEMO produced by B. mycoides SelTE01 after 6 or 24 h of Na 2 SeO 3 exposure show the same effective antibiofilm activity towards both P. aeruginosa and S. aureus strains at 0.078 mg ml −1 (Bio Se-NEMO 6 ) and 0.3125 mg ml −1 (Bio Se-NEMO 24 ). Meanwhile, chemically synthesized SeNPs at the highest tested concentration (2.5 mg ml −1 ) have moderate antimicrobial activity. The confocal laser scanning micrographs demonstrate that the majority of the P. aeruginosa and S. aureus cells exposed to biogenic SeNPs within the biofilm are killed or eradicated. Bio Se-NEMO therefore displayed good antimicrobial activity towards HA-grown biofilms and planktonic cells, becoming possible candidates as new antimicrobials
Letter graphs and geometric grid classes of permutations: characterization and recognition
In this paper, we reveal an intriguing relationship between two seemingly
unrelated notions: letter graphs and geometric grid classes of permutations. An
important property common for both of them is well-quasi-orderability,
implying, in a non-constructive way, a polynomial-time recognition of geometric
grid classes of permutations and -letter graphs for a fixed . However,
constructive algorithms are available only for . In this paper, we present
the first constructive polynomial-time algorithm for the recognition of
-letter graphs. It is based on a structural characterization of graphs in
this class.Comment: arXiv admin note: text overlap with arXiv:1108.6319 by other author
Biomolecular composition of capping layer and stability of biogenic selenium nanoparticles synthesized by five bacterial species
Biogenic metal/metalloid nanoparticles of microbial origin retain a functional biomolecular capping layer that confers structural stability. Little is known about the composition of such capping material. In this study, selenium nanoparticles (SeNPs) synthesized by five different bacterial strains underwent comparative analysis with newly proposed protocols for quantifying the concentration of carbohydrates, proteins and lipids present in capping layers. SeNPs were therefore treated with two different detergents to remove portions of the surrounding caps in order to assess the resulting effects. Capping material quantification was carried out along with the measure of parameters such as hydrodynamic diameter, polydispersity and surface charge. SeNPs from the five strains showed differences in their distinct biomolecule ratios. On the other hand, structural changes in the nanoparticles induced by detergents did not correlate with the amounts of capping matrix removed. Thus, the present investigation suggests a hypothesis to describe capping layer composition of the bacterial SeNPs: some biomolecules are bound more strongly than others to the core metalloid matrix, so that the diverse capping layer components differentially contribute to the overall structural characteristics of the nanoparticles. Furthermore, the application of the approach here in combining quantification of cap-associated biomolecules with the measurement of structural integrity-related parameters can give the biogenic nanomaterial field useful information to construct a data bank on biogenically synthesized nanostructures
Parameterized Compilation Lower Bounds for Restricted CNF-formulas
We show unconditional parameterized lower bounds in the area of knowledge
compilation, more specifically on the size of circuits in decomposable negation
normal form (DNNF) that encode CNF-formulas restricted by several graph width
measures. In particular, we show that
- there are CNF formulas of size and modular incidence treewidth
whose smallest DNNF-encoding has size , and
- there are CNF formulas of size and incidence neighborhood diversity
whose smallest DNNF-encoding has size .
These results complement recent upper bounds for compiling CNF into DNNF and
strengthen---quantitatively and qualitatively---known conditional low\-er
bounds for cliquewidth. Moreover, they show that, unlike for many graph
problems, the parameters considered here behave significantly differently from
treewidth
From parental-fetal attachment to a parent-infant relationship: a systematic review about prenatal protective and risk factors
Developing an attachment to an unborn child is considered a milestone in the future parents’ developmental trajectory. Furthermore, the quality of the parent-fetus relationship is related to the quality of the postnatal parent-infant relationship. We have aimed to provide an overview of the recent findings highlighting factors that can influence parental prenatal attachment and the postpartum parent-child relationship. PubMed and PsycINFO were systematically explored looking for longitudinal studies, published from 2005 to 2016, reporting clearly the prenatal attachment measures used. We found 28 studies heterogeneous for sampling techniques, sample size and periods of assessment. Studies considered a broad range of individual, relational and contextual variables as potential risk or protective factors, but no one has of yet evaluated the interaction between them. The main focus remains on mothers. From these studies emerged conflicting and difficult to generalize results, and this does not facilitate the understanding of the phenomenon investigated. The current literature needs to be integrated with more longitudinal studies using comparable tools and periods of observation, at either a normal or at risk sample. There is also need for additional studies focused on fathers and couples, and considering the effects of the fetal behavior on the development of prenatal attachment
Introducing a relocation service for one-way carsharing with a first-in first-served policy
In one-way carsharing users are allowed to return cars to locations different from those where they were picked up. but directional imbalances in their requests result in the accumulation of unnecessary cars in some areas, whereas other areas face car shortages. To correct tins situation, we investigate the introduction of a new relocation service by a staff equipped with foldable motorcycles: They are driven to move to unused cars and are put inside cars, which are driven by the staff where they are requested. Although the relocation staff size can be determined by a state-of-The-Art model, it tends to overestimate the manpower maximizing the overall system profitability in a first-in first served policy. Tins paper presents an optimization model correcting this drawback. Tins model can be used to investigate how different manpower levels change the percentage of satisfied user bookings and determine the most profitable staff size configuration
Charge density waves enhance the electronic noise of manganites
The transport and noise properties of Pr_{0.7}Ca_{0.3}MnO_{3} epitaxial thin
films in the temperature range from room temperature to 160 K are reported. It
is shown that both the broadband 1/f noise properties and the dependence of
resistance on electric field are consistent with the idea of a collective
electrical transport, as in the classical model of sliding charge density
waves. On the other hand, the observations cannot be reconciled with standard
models of charge ordering and charge melting. Methodologically, it is proposed
to consider noise-spectra analysis as a unique tool for the identification of
the transport mechanism in such highly correlated systems. On the basis of the
results, the electrical transport is envisaged as one of the most effective
ways to understand the nature of the insulating, charge-modulated ground states
in manganites.Comment: 6 two-column pages, 5 figure
- …