574 research outputs found
Deterministic quantum state transfer from an electronic charge qubit to a photonic polarization qubit
Building on an earlier proposal for the production of polarization-entangled
microwaves by means of intraband transitions in a pair of quantum dots, we show
how this device can be used to transfer an unknown single-qubit state from
electronic charge to photonic polarization degrees of freedom. No postselection
is required, meaning that the quantum state transfer happens deterministically.
Decoherence of the charge qubit causes a non-monotonic decay of the fidelity of
the transferred state with increasing decoherence rate.Comment: 3 pages, 3 figure
Determining the Electron-Phonon Coupling Strength in Correlated Electron Systems from Resonant Inelastic X-ray Scattering
We show that high resolution Resonant Inelastic X-ray Scattering (RIXS)
provides direct, element-specific and momentum-resolved information on the
electron-phonon (e-p) coupling strength. Our theoretical analysis demonstrates
that the e-p coupling can be extracted from RIXS spectra by determining the
differential phonon scattering cross section. An alternative, very direct
manner to extract the coupling is to use the one and two-phonon loss ratio,
which is governed by the e-p coupling strength and the core-hole life-time.
This allows measurement of the e-p coupling on an absolute energy scale.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figure
Bimagnon studies in cuprates with Resonant Inelastic X-ray Scattering at the O K edge. I - An assessment on La2CuO4 and a comparison with the excitation at Cu L3 and Cu K edges
We assess the capabilities of magnetic Resonant Inelastic X-ray Scattering
(RIXS) at the O edge in undoped cuprates by taking La_{2}CuO_{4} as a
benchmark case, based on a series of RIXS measurements that we present here. By
combining the experimental results with basic theory we point out the
fingerprints of bimagnon in the O edge RIXS spectra. These are a dominant
peak around 450 meV, the almost complete absence of dispersion both with
and polarization and the almost constant intensity vs. the transferred
momentum with polarization. This behavior is quite different from Cu
edge RIXS giving a strongly dispersing bimagnon tending to zero at the
center of the Brillouin zone. This is clearly shown by RIXS measurements at the
Cu edge that we present. The Cu bimagnon spectra and those at Cu
edge - both from the literature and from our data - however, have the same
shape. These similarities and differences are understood in terms of different
sampling of the bimagnon continuum. This panorama points out the unique
possibilities offered by O RIXS in the study of magnetic excitations in
cuprates near the center of the BZ
Integration of metabolomics, lipidomics and clinical data using a machine learning method.
BACKGROUND: The recent pandemic of obesity and the metabolic syndrome (MetS) has led to the realisation that new drug targets are needed to either reduce obesity or the subsequent pathophysiological consequences associated with excess weight gain. Certain nuclear hormone receptors (NRs) play a pivotal role in lipid and carbohydrate metabolism and have been highlighted as potential treatments for obesity. This realisation started a search for NR agonists in order to understand and successfully treat MetS and associated conditions such as insulin resistance, dyslipidaemia, hypertension, hypertriglyceridemia, obesity and cardiovascular disease. The most studied NRs for treating metabolic diseases are the peroxisome proliferator-activated receptors (PPARs), PPAR-α, PPAR-γ, and PPAR-δ. However, prolonged PPAR treatment in animal models has led to adverse side effects including increased risk of a number of cancers, but how these receptors change metabolism long term in terms of pathology, despite many beneficial effects shorter term, is not fully understood. In the current study, changes in male Sprague Dawley rat liver caused by dietary treatment with a PPAR-pan (PPAR-α, -γ, and -δ) agonist were profiled by classical toxicology (clinical chemistry) and high throughput metabolomics and lipidomics approaches using mass spectrometry. RESULTS: In order to integrate an extensive set of nine different multivariate metabolic and lipidomics datasets with classical toxicological parameters we developed a hypotheses free, data driven machine learning approach. From the data analysis, we examined how the nine datasets were able to model dose and clinical chemistry results, with the different datasets having very different information content. CONCLUSIONS: We found lipidomics (Direct Infusion-Mass Spectrometry) data the most predictive for different dose responses. In addition, associations with the metabolic and lipidomic data with aspartate amino transaminase (AST), a hepatic leakage enzyme to assess organ damage, and albumin, indicative of altered liver synthetic function, were established. Furthermore, by establishing correlations and network connections between eicosanoids, phospholipids and triacylglycerols, we provide evidence that these lipids function as a key link between inflammatory processes and intermediary metabolism
Momentum dependence of orbital excitations in Mott-insulating titanates
High-resolution resonant inelastic x-ray scattering has been used to
determine the momentum dependence of orbital excitations in Mott-insulating
LaTiO and YTiO over a wide range of the Brillouin zone. The data are
compared to calculations in the framework of lattice-driven and
superexchange-driven orbital ordering models. A superexchange model in which
the experimentally observed modes are attributed to two-orbiton excitations
yields the best description of the data.Comment: to appear in PR
Creating and Verifying a Quantum Superposition in a Micro-optomechanical System
Micro-optomechanical systems are central to a number of recent proposals for
realizing quantum mechanical effects in relatively massive systems. Here we
focus on a particular class of experiments which aim to demonstrate massive
quantum superpositions, although the obtained results should be generalizable
to similar experiments. We analyze in detail the effects of finite temperature
on the interpretation of the experiment, and obtain a lower bound on the degree
of non-classicality of the cantilever. Although it is possible to measure the
quantum decoherence time when starting from finite temperature, an unambiguous
demonstration of a quantum superposition requires the mechanical resonator to
be in or near the ground state. This can be achieved by optical cooling of the
fundamental mode, which also provides a method to measure the mean phonon
number in that mode. We also calculate the rate of environmentally induced
decoherence and estimate the timescale for gravitational collapse mechanisms as
proposed by Penrose and Diosi. In view of recent experimental advances,
practical considerations for the realization of the described experiment are
discussed.Comment: 19 pages, 8 figures, published in New J. Phys. 10 095020 (2008);
minor revisions to improve clarity; fixed possibly corrupted figure
Measurement of magnetic excitations in the two-dimensional antiferromagnetic Sr2CuO2Cl2 insulator using resonant x-ray scattering:Evidence for extended interactions
Using high-resolution resonant inelastic x-ray scattering (RIXS), we
performed a momentum-resolved study of magnetic excitations in the model
spin-1/2 2D antiferromagnetic insulator Sr_2CuCl_2O_2. We identify both a
single-spin-wave feature and a multi-magnon continuum, and show that the X-ray
polarization can be used to distinguish these two contributions in the
cross-section. The spin-waves display a large (70 meV) dispersion between the
zone-boundary points (,0) and (/2,/2). Employing an extended
--- one-band Hubbard model, we find significant electronic
hopping beyond nearest-neighbor Cu ions. We conclude that sizeable extended
magnetic interactions are present in \scoc{} and probably important in all
undoped cuprates.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figure
Cost-effectiveness of the Australian Medical Sheepskin for the prevention of pressure ulcers in somatic nursing home patients: study protocol for a prospective multi-centre randomised controlled trial (ISRCTN17553857)
<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Pressure ulcers are a major problem, especially in nursing home patients, although they are regarded as preventable and there are many pressure relieving methods and materials. One such pressure relieving material is the recently developed Australian Medical Sheepskin, which has been shown in two randomized controlled trials <abbrgrp><abbr bid="B1">1</abbr><abbr bid="B2">2</abbr></abbrgrp> to be an effective intervention in the prevention of sacral pressure ulcers in hospital patients. However, the use of sheepskins has been debated and in general discouraged by most pressure ulcer working groups and pressure ulcer guidelines, but these debates were based on old forms of sheepskins. Furthermore, nothing is yet known about the (cost-)effectiveness of the Australian Medical sheepskin in nursing home patients.</p> <p>The objective of this study is to assess the effects and costs of the use of the Australian Medical Sheepskin combined with usual care with regard to the prevention of sacral pressure ulcers in somatic nursing home patients, versus usual care only.</p> <p>Methods/Design</p> <p>In a multi-centre randomised controlled trial 750 patients admitted for a primarily somatic reason to one of the five participating nursing homes, and not having pressure ulcers on the sacrum at admission, will be randomized to either usual care only or usual care plus the use of the Australian Medical Sheepskin as an overlay on the mattress.</p> <p>Outcome measures are: incidence of sacral pressure ulcers in the first month after admission; sacrum pressure ulcer free days; costs; patient comfort; and ease of use. The skin of all the patients will be observed once a day from admission on for 30 days. Patient characteristics and pressure risk scores are assessed at admission and at day 30 after it.</p> <p>Additional to the empirical phase, systematic reviews will be performed in order to obtain data for economic weighting and modelling.</p> <p>The protocol is registered in the Controlled Trial Register as ISRCTN17553857.</p
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