Measurable Concurrence of Mixed States

We show that bipartite concurrence for rank-2 mixed states of qubits is written by an observable which can be exactly and directly measurable in experiment by local projective measurements, provided that four copies of the composite quantum system are available. In addition, for a tripartite quantum pure state of qubits, the 3-tangle is also shown to be measurable only by projective measurements on the reduced density matrices of a pair of qubits conditioned on four copies of the state.Comment: 3 page

Capsaicin-Induced Ca2+ Influx and Constriction of the Middle Meningeal Artery

Research in the past on transient receptor potential cation channel subfamily V member 1 (TRPV1) has been limited to mainly nervous tissue TRPV1 because of the channel’s role in pain perception. Here, we studied the potential role of TRPV1 in vascular smooth muscle. We have observed that capsaicin, a TRPV1 agonist, induced constriction of the middle meningeal artery (MMA). Our goal was to decipher the mechanism of capsaicin-induced constriction of the MMA. Arterial diameter measurements showed that constriction due to 100 nM capsaicin (65.4% ± 3.7, n=7) was significantly diminished in the presence of the voltage-dependent calcium channel (VDCC) blocker 100 µM diltiazem (43.1% ± 8.1, n=7). Capsaicin-induced constriction was not significantly altered in the presence of the sarco/endoplasmic reticulum calcium transport ATPase (SERCA) inhibitor 30 µM cyclopiazonic acid (63.7 ± 9.0%, n=5) compared to control arteries (58.4 ± 8.6%, n=5). The unaltered capsaicin-induced constriction of the MMA in the presence of a SERCA inhibitor suggests that calcium-induced calcium release does not contribute to the overall calcium influx mechanism within the smooth muscle cells of the MMA. The diminished capsaicin-induced constriction of the MMA in the presence of a VDCC blocker suggests that sodium entry through TRPV1 channels can possibly lead to the membrane potential depolarization and increased activity of VDCCs causing further calcium influx. Furthermore, since the capsaicin effect was not abolished by the blockage of VDCCs, our data suggest that calcium entry through TRPV1 is sufficient to cause approximately 65% of the total constriction of the MMA in response to activation of TRPV1

Existence Criterion of Genuine Tripartite Entanglement

In this paper, an intuitive mathematical formulation is provided to generalize the residual entanglement for tripartite systems of qubits [Phys. Rev. A 61, 052306 (2000)] to the tripartite systems in higher dimension. The spirit lies in the tensor treatment of tripartite pure states [Phys. Rev. A 72, 022333 (2005)]. A distinct characteristic of the present generalization is that the formulation for higher dimensional systems is invariant under permutation of the subsystems, hence is employed as a criterion to test the existence of genuine tripartite entanglement. Furthermore, the formulation for pure states can be conveniently extended to the case of mixed states by utilizing the Kronecker product approximate technique. As applications, we give the analytic approximation of the criterion for weakly mixed tripartite quantum states and consider the existence of genuine tripartite entanglement of some weakly mixed states.Comment: 6 pages, 2 figure

Investigation of passive flow control techniques to enhance the stall characteristics of a microlight aircraft

This report investigates the enhancement of aerodynamic stall characteristics of a Skyranger microlight aircraft by the use of passive flow control techniques, namely vortex generators and turbulators. Each flow control device is designed and scaled to application conditions. Force balance measurements and surface oil flow visualisation are carried out on a half-model of the microlight to further investigate the nature of the flow on the aircraft with and without the flow control devices. The results indicate a clear advantage to the use of turbulators compared with vortex generators. Turbulators increased the maximum lift coefficient by 2.8%, delayed the onset of stall by increasing the critical angle by 17.6% and reduced the drag penalty at both lower (pre-stall) and higher angles of attack by 8% compared to vortex generators. With vortex generators applied, the results indicated a delayed stall with an increase in the critical angle by 2% and a reduced drag penalty at higher angles of attack

Differences in Mode of Action of Cochinchinenin A and B on Tetrodotoxin-Resistant Sodium Channels

Purpose: To explore the mechanism of antagonistic interaction between cochinchinenin A and B in modulating tetrodotoxin-resistant (TTR-X) sodium currents.Methods: The time variation of the effects induced by cochinchinenin A and B on the TTX-R sodium currents in dorsal root ganglion (DRG) neurons of rats were observed using whole-cell patch clamp technique. Based on pharmacological fundamental theory, the modes of action of  cochinchinenin A and B on TTX-R channels were distinguished.Results: The scatter diagram which reflected the time variation of inhibition effect on TTX-R sodium currents induced by cochinchinenin A fitted well with occupancy theory equation (goodness of fit test, p > 0.05), while that of cochinchinenin B fitted well with rate theory equation (p > 0.05). The rate constants for combination and dissociation between cochinchinenin A and TTX-R sodium channel were (198.7 ± 39.9) x 10-3 and (41.1 ± 6.2) x 10-3 respectively; while corresponding values for combination andassociation between cochinchinenin B and TTX-R sodium channel were (99.9 ± 16.8) x 10-3 and (5.3 ± 0.4) x 10-3 respectively.Conclusion: The main cause of the antagonistic interaction between cochinchinenin A and B may be attributed to the different modes of their action on TTX-R sodium channels.Keywords: Cochinchinenin, Tetrodotoxin-resistant sodium channel, Antagonistic interaction, Occupancy theory, Rate theor

Effects of eye rubbing and breath holding on corneal biomechanical properties and intraocular pressure.

PurposeTo determine whether corneal biomechanical properties and intraocular pressure (IOP) are affected by eye rubbing and breath holding.MethodsCorneal hysteresis, corneal resistance factor, corneal compensated IOP (IOPcc), and Goldmann equivalent IOP (IOPg) were measured on both eyes of 40 subjects. Measurements were taken at baseline before eye rubbing (ER(0)) and before breath holding (BH(0)), immediately after 2 episodes of eye rubbing (ER(1) and ER(2)), and during 2 episodes of breath holding (BH(1) and BH(2)).ResultsCorneal hysteresis, corneal resistance factor, and IOPg were significantly lower after ER(1) compared with ER(0) and were significantly lower after ER(2) compared with ER(1). In contrast, IOPcc did not decrease significantly. There were no significant differences among BH(0), BH(1), and BH(2) in any of the 4 outcomes.ConclusionsEye rubbing should be avoided before measurements of corneal biomechanical properties and IOPg. In contrast, breath holding during measurements is not likely to cause a significant change in IOPg and IOPcc or corneal biomechanical properties

On the Conductance Sum Rule for the Hierarchical Edge States of the Fractional Quantum Hall Effect

The conductance sum rule for the hierarchical edge channel currents of a Fractional Quantum Hall Effect state is derived analytically within the Haldane-Halperin hierarchy scheme. We provide also an intuitive interpretation for the hierarchical drift velocities of the edge excitations.Comment: 11 pages, no figure, Revtex 3.0, IC/93/329, ASITP-93-5