Two Fundamental Experimental Tests of Nonclassicality with Qutrits

We report two fundamental experiments on three-level quantum systems (qutrits). The first one tests the simplest task for which quantum mechanics provides an advantage with respect to classical physics. The quantum advantage is certified by the violation of Wright's inequality, the simplest classical inequality violated by quantum mechanics. In the second experiment, we obtain contextual correlations by sequentially measuring pairs of compatible observables on a qutrit, and show the violation of Klyachko et al.'s inequality, the most fundamental noncontextuality inequality violated by qutrits. Our experiment tests exactly Klyachko et al.'s inequality, uses the same measurement procedure for each observable in every context, and shows that the violation does not depend on the order of the measurements.Comment: 4 pages, 2 figure

Removal of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs) from tap water using heterogeneously catalyzed ozonation

Drinking water is one of the most important human exposure pathways of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs). As conventional water treatment techniques are unable to remove PFASs efficiently, novel treatment methods for the removal of PFASs in water are urgently needed. In the present study advanced oxidation processes (AOPs) based on heterogeneously catalyzed ozonation were evaluated on laboratory- and pilot-scales for their efficiency in removing PFASs from water. Laboratory-scale ozonation experiments were conducted with different combinations of ozone, a catalyst and persulfate and showed the highest efficiency for the treatment combining all three parameters. The method was further evaluated for the treatment of spiked drinking water on the pilot-scale. The concentrations of all 18 analyzed PFASs decreased significantly within three hours of treatment in the pilot-scale set-up. The perfluorocarbon chain length had a dominant influence on the removal efficiency, where CF 7 − CF 11 PFASs were removed with more than 98% removal efficiency, independent of the functional group, CF 12 − CF 17 PFASs with 64%, and CF 4 − CF 6 with 55% on average. As the evaluated ozonation treatment is already commercially available for large scale applications today, it could easily be applied in existing water treatment trains; however, ozonation can create potentially toxic transformation products which needs to be investigated in future research

Uptake of perfluoroalkyl substances, pharmaceuticals, and parabens by oyster mushrooms (Pleurotus ostreatus) and exposure risk in human consumption

Organic micropollutants (MPs) pose potential threats to environmental ecosystems and human health. This study investigated uptake of perfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs), pharmaceuticals, and paraben by edible oyster mushrooms (Pleurotus ostreatus), cultivated on spiked growth substrate. Concentrations of pharmaceuticals and paraben in substrate showed a decreasing trend over a 20-day harvesting period, whereas PFAS concentrations were variable over the harvesting period. However, only propylparaben, clarithromycin, and PFASs were detected in fruiting bodies of oyster mushroom. Uptake of PFASs by oyster mushroom fruit bodies was negatively correlated with perfluorocarbon chain length. An impact of MPs on fungal colonization was observed, with decreased respiration in treatments with the highest concentration of MPs, but production of fruiting bodies was not affected by exposure level. The potential human risk from ingestion of MPs was evaluated for oyster mushrooms exposed to the highest concentration of MPs in substrate, based on acceptable daily intake (ADI)

Analysis of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs) in soil from Swedish background sites

Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs) are persistent organic pollutants with bioaccumulative and toxic potential. This study investigated the levels, composition profiles and geographical distribution of 28 PFASs in 31 soil samples from Swedish background areas. In total, 15 of the 28 analysed PFASs were detected, with an average concentration of 2.4 ng g-1 dw (median of 1.9 ng g-1 dw, n = 31). The dominant PFASs in the soil samples were perfluorooctane sulfonic acid (PFOS) (20 % of the ∑28PFASs), perfluorooctane sulfonamidoacetic acid (FOSAA, 15 %), 6:2 fluorotelomer sulfonic acid (6:2 FTSA, 14 %) and perfluorobutane sulfonic acid (PFBS, 13 %). Perfluorooctane sulfonic acid (PFOS) had also the highest detection frequency of the studied PFASs (77 %) in the soil samples with a median concentration of 0.30 ng g-1 dw. However, the guideline value for PFOS in soil for sensitive land use from the Swedish Geotechnical Institute (SGI) (3 ng g-1 dw) was not exceeded in any sample. However, assuming the same toxicity for all PFASs, the ∑28PFAS concentrations exceeded the guideline value (3 ng g-1 dw) in 9 out of 31 samples (29 %). PFOS and perfluoroundecanoic acid (PFUnDA) concentrations showed higher concentrations towards the south (significant negative correlation with latitude; p < 0.05), while FOSAA showed an opposite trend (p < 0.05). Furthermore, PFBS showed higher concentrations towards the west (significant negative correlation with longitude; p < 0.05). The proportion of PFOS (%) decreased significantly with latitude (i.e. towards the south), while the proportion of FOSAA (%) increased with latitude (p < 0.05). Furthermore, the concentrations of FOSAA, PFBS and perfluorotridecanoic acid (PFTriDA) showed a significant positive correlation with total organic carbon (TOC) (p < 0.05). The concentrations of FOSAA correlated significantly positive with both PFTriDA and PFBS (p < 0.05). Overall, PFASs were ubiquitously detected in Swedish background soil samples and showed distinguish geographical distribution. However, more data are needed regarding the pathways and sources of PFASs in soil and identifying potential hot spots

Are preserved coastal water bodies in Spanish Mediterranean basin impacted by human activity? Water quality evaluation using chemical and biological analyses

The Spanish Mediterranean basin is particularly susceptible to climate change and human activities, making it vulnerable to the influence of anthropogenic contaminants. Therefore, conducting comprehensive and exhaustive water quality assessment in relevant water bodies of this basin is pivotal. In this work, surface water samples from coastal lagoons or estuaries were collected across the Spanish Mediterranean coastline and subjected to target and suspect screening of 1,585 organic micropollutants by liquid chromatography coupled to ion mobility separation and high resolution mass spectrometry. In total, 91 organic micropollutants could be confirmed and 5 were tentatively identified, with pharmaceuticals and pesticides being the most prevalent groups of chemicals. Chemical analysis data was compared with data on bioanalysis of those samples (recurrent aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AhR) activation, and estrogenic receptor (ER) inhibition in wetland samples affected by wastewater streams). The number of identified organic contaminants containing aromatic rings could explain the AhR activation observed. For the ER antagonistic effects, predictions on estrogenic inhibition potency for the detected compounds were used to explain the activities observed. The integration of chemical analysis with bioanalytical observations allowed a comprehensive overview of the quality of the water bodies under study

Carrier-envelope phase dependent high-order harmonic generation with a high-repetition rate OPCPA-system

We study high-order harmonic generation with a high-repetition rate (200 kHz), few-cycle, driving laser, based on optical parametric chirped pulse amplification. The system delivers carrier-envelope phase stable, 8 fs, 10 μJ pulses at a central wavelength of 890 nm. High-order harmonics, generated in a high-pressure Ar gas jet, exhibit a strong CEP-dependence over a large spectral range owing to excellent stability of the driving laser pulses. This range can be divided into three spectral regions with distinct CEP influence. The observed spectral interference structures are explained by an analytical model based upon multiple pulse interferences.Marie Curie Research Training Network ATTOFELEuropean Research CouncilKnut and Alice Wallenberg foundationSwedish Foundation for Strategic ResearchSwedish Research Counci

Comparative Functional Analysis of the Caenorhabditis elegans and Drosophila melanogaster Proteomes

The nematode Caenorhabditis elegans is a popular model system in genetics, not least because a majority of human disease genes are conserved in C. elegans. To generate a comprehensive inventory of its expressed proteome, we performed extensive shotgun proteomics and identified more than half of all predicted C. elegans proteins. This allowed us to confirm and extend genome annotations, characterize the role of operons in C. elegans, and semiquantitatively infer abundance levels for thousands of proteins. Furthermore, for the first time to our knowledge, we were able to compare two animal proteomes (C. elegans and Drosophila melanogaster). We found that the abundances of orthologous proteins in metazoans correlate remarkably well, better than protein abundance versus transcript abundance within each organism or transcript abundances across organisms; this suggests that changes in transcript abundance may have been partially offset during evolution by opposing changes in protein abundance