Netons: Vibrations of Complex Networks

We consider atoms interacting each other through the topological structure of a complex network and investigate lattice vibrations of the system, the quanta of which we call {\em netons} for convenience. The density of neton levels, obtained numerically, reveals that unlike a local regular lattice, the system develops a gap of a finite width, manifesting extreme rigidity of the network structure at low energies. Two different network models, the small-world network and the scale-free network, are compared: The characteristic structure of the former is described by an additional peak in the level density whereas a power-law tail is observed in the latter, indicating excitability of netons at arbitrarily high energies. The gap width is also found to vanish in the small-world network when the connection range $r = 1$.Comment: 9 pages, 6 figures, to appear in JP

Matter-matter entanglement for quantum networks

Developments in quantum information science rely critically on entanglement, as its distribution between different parties enables quantum communication protocols, such as quantum key distribution or teleportation. This talk focused on two different ways to generate heralded entanglement between matter systems, a critical requirement for scalable quantum networking

Circulating endothelial cells demonstrate an attenuation of endothelial damage by minimizing the extracorporeal circulation

ObjectiveDetachment of endothelial cells may represent serious injury of the endothelium after cardiopulmonary bypass. We investigated whether the extent of endothelial injury is related to the type of cardiopulmonary bypass system used (conventional or minimized) and determined circulating endothelial cells as well as von Willebrand factor and soluble thrombomodulin.MethodsTwenty patients scheduled for elective coronary bypass grafting were randomly assigned to either the minimal extracorporeal circulation system or the standard cardiopulmonary bypass. Ten healthy volunteers served as controls. Circulating endothelial cells per milliliter of full blood were perioperatively determined by immunomagnetic cell separation technique. Endothelial plasma markers were measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay.ResultsPreoperative circulating endothelial cell numbers did not differ between the experimental groups, but were significantly higher than in the healthy controls (18.6 ± 5.6 vs 7.2 ± 3.8, P < .001). At 6 hours, circulating endothelial cell numbers increased significantly compared with baseline in both experimental groups and peaked at 12 hours after cardiopulmonary bypass initiation, each time with significantly lower values in the minimal extracorporeal circulation group (6 hours: 44.0 ± 9.9 vs 29.6 ± 9.8, P = .007; 12 hours: 48.1 ± 6.8 vs 31.8 ± 7.1, P < .001). Likewise, von Willebrand factor and soluble thrombomodulin postoperatively increased in both groups with a tendency toward lower levels in the minimal extracorporeal circulation group. Although circulating endothelial cells gradually declined, continually with lower numbers in the minimal extracorporeal circulation group, the endothelial plasma markers remained elevated during observation time.ConclusionsCirculating endothelial cells represent a novel marker of the intrinsic endothelial damage caused by cardiopulmonary bypass. Its analysis facilitates the evaluation of cardiopulmonary bypass modifications as the minimal extracorporeal circulation system could be proven to be less injurious to endothelium and myocardium

A simple device for multiplex ELISA made from melt-extruded plastic microcapillary film

We present a simple device for multiplex quantitative enzyme-linked immunosorbant assays (ELISA) made from a novel melt-extruded microcapillary film (MCF) containing a parallel array of 200µm capillaries along its length. To make ELISA devices different protein antigens or antibodies were immobilised inside individual microcapillaries within long reels of MCF extruded from fluorinated ethylene propylene (FEP). Short pieces of coated film were cut and interfaced with a pipette, allowing sequential uptake of samples and detection solutions into all capillaries from a reagent well. As well as being simple to produce, these FEP MCF devices have excellent light transmittance allowing direct optical interrogation of the capillaries for simple signal quantification. Proof of concept experiments demonstrate both quantitative and multiplex assays in FEP MCF devices using a standard direct ELISA procedure and read using a flatbed scanner. This new multiplex immunoassay platform should find applications ranging from lab detection to point-of-care and field diagnostics

Exponential Metric Fields

The Laser Interferometer Space Antenna (LISA) mission will use advanced technologies to achieve its science goals: the direct detection of gravitational waves, the observation of signals from compact (small and dense) stars as they spiral into black holes, the study of the role of massive black holes in galaxy evolution, the search for gravitational wave emission from the early Universe. The gravitational red-shift, the advance of the perihelion of Mercury, deflection of light and the time delay of radar signals are the classical tests in the first order of General Relativity (GR). However, LISA can possibly test Einstein's theories in the second order and perhaps, it will show some particular feature of non-linearity of gravitational interaction. In the present work we are seeking a method to construct theoretical templates that limit in the first order the tensorial structure of some metric fields, thus the non-linear terms are given by exponential functions of gravitational strength. The Newtonian limit obtained here, in the first order, is equivalent to GR.Comment: Accepted for publication in Astrophysics and Space Science, 17 page

Relative Tissue Factor Deficiency Attenuates Ventilator-Induced Coagulopathy but Does Not Protect against Ventilator-Induced Lung Injury in Mice

Preventing tissue-factor-(TF-) mediated systemic coagulopathy improves outcome in models of sepsis. Preventing TF-mediated pulmonary coagulopathy could attenuate ventilator-induced lung injury (VILI). We investigated the effect of relative TF deficiency on pulmonary coagulopathy and inflammation in a murine model of VILI. Heterozygous TF knockout (TF+/−) mice and their wild-type (TF+/+) littermates were sedated (controls) or sedated, tracheotomized, and mechanically ventilated with either low or high tidal volumes for 5 hours. Mechanical ventilation resulted in pulmonary coagulopathy and inflammation, with more injury after mechanical ventilation with higher tidal volumes. Compared with TF+/+ mice, TF+/− mice demonstrated significantly lower pulmonary thrombin-antithrombin complex levels in both ventilation groups. There were, however, no differences in lung wet-to-dry ratio, BALF total protein levels, neutrophil influx, and lung histopathology scores between TF+/− and TF+/+ mice. Notably, pulmonary levels of cytokines were significantly higher in TF+/− as compared to TF+/+ mice. Systemic levels of cytokines were not altered by the relative absence of TF. TF deficiency is associated with decreased pulmonary coagulation independent of the ventilation strategy. However, relative TF deficiency does not reduce VILI and actually results in higher pulmonary levels of inflammatory mediators

Intrinsic response time of graphene photodetectors

Graphene-based photodetectors are promising new devices for high-speed optoelectronic applications. However, despite recent efforts, it is not clear what determines the ultimate speed limit of these devices. Here, we present measurements of the intrinsic response time of metal-graphene-metal photodetectors with monolayer graphene using an optical correlation technique with ultrashort laser pulses. We obtain a response time of 2.1 ps that is mainly given by the short lifetime of the photogenerated carriers. This time translates into a bandwidth of ~262 GHz. Moreover, we investigate the dependence of the response time on gate voltage and illumination laser power