26 research outputs found
Spectroscopic Signatures for the Dark Bose-Einstein Condensation of Spatially Indirect Excitons
We study semiconductor excitons confined in an electrostatic trap of a GaAs
bilayer heterostructure. We evidence that optically bright excitonic states are
strongly depleted while cooling to sub-Kelvin temperatures. In return, the
other accessible and optically dark states become macroscopically occupied so
that the overall exciton population in the trap is conserved. These combined
behaviours constitute the spectroscopic signature for the mostly dark
Bose-Einstein condensation of excitons, which in our experiments is restricted
to a dilute regime within a narrow range of densities, below a critical
temperature of about 1K.Comment: 7 pages and 5 figure
Resonance fluorescence revival in a voltage-controlled semiconductor quantum dot
We demonstrate systematic resonance fluorescence recovery with near-unity
emission efficiency in single quantum dots embedded in a charge-tunable device
in a wave-guiding geometry. The quantum dot charge state is controlled by a
gate voltage, through carrier tunneling from a close-lying Fermi sea,
stabilizing the resonantly photocreated electron-hole pair. The electric field
cancels out the charging/discharging mechanisms from nearby traps toward the
quantum dots, responsible for the usually observed inhibition of the resonant
fluorescence. Fourier transform spectroscopy as a function of the applied
voltage shows a strong increase of the coherence time though not reaching the
radiative limit. These charge controlled quantum dots act as quasi-perfect
deterministic single-photon emitters, with one laser pulse converted into one
emitted single photon
Integrated AlGaAs source of highly indistinguishable and energy-time entangled photons
The generation of nonclassical states of light in miniature chips is a
crucial step towards practical implementations of future quantum technologies.
Semiconductor materials are ideal to achieve extremely compact and massively
parallel systems and several platforms are currently under development. In this
context, spontaneous parametric down conversion in AlGaAs devices combines the
advantages of room temperature operation, possibility of electrical injection
and emission in the telecom band. Here we report on a chip-based AlGaAs source,
producing indistinguishable and energy-time entangled photons with a brightness
of pairs/s and a signal-to-noise ratio of .
Indistinguishability between the photons is demonstrated via a Hong-Ou-Mandel
experiment with a visibility of , while energy-time entanglement is
tested via a Franson interferometer leading to a value for the Bell parameter
Topological nanophononic states by band inversion
Nanophononics is essential for the engineering of thermal transport in
nanostructured electronic devices, it greatly facilitates the manipulation of
mechanical resonators in the quantum regime, and could unveil a new route in
quantum communications using phonons as carriers of information. Acoustic
phonons also constitute a versatile platform for the study of fundamental wave
dynamics, including Bloch oscillations, Wannier Stark ladders and other
localization phenomena. Many of the phenomena studied in nanophononics were
indeed inspired by their counterparts in optics and electronics. In these
fields, the consideration of topological invariants to control wave dynamics
has already had a great impact for the generation of robust confined states.
Interestingly, the use of topological phases to engineer nanophononic devices
remains an unexplored and promising field. Conversely, the use of acoustic
phonons could constitute a rich platform to study topological states. Here, we
introduce the concept of topological invariants to nanophononics and
experimentally implement a nanophononic system supporting a robust topological
interface state at 350 GHz. The state is constructed through band inversion,
i.e. by concatenating two semiconductor superlattices with inverted spatial
mode symmetries. The existence of this state is purely determined by the Zak
phases of the constituent superlattices, i.e. that one-dimensional Berry phase.
We experimentally evidenced the mode through Raman spectroscopy. The reported
robust topological interface states could become part of nanophononic devices
requiring resonant structures such as sensors or phonon lasers.Comment: 21 pages, 7 figure
Milliwatt terahertz harmonic generation from topological insulator metamaterials
Achieving efficient, high-power harmonic generation in the terahertz spectral
domain has technological applications, for example in sixth generation (6G)
communication networks. Massless Dirac fermions possess extremely large
terahertz nonlinear susceptibilities and harmonic conversion efficiencies.
However, the observed maximum generated harmonic power is limited, because of
saturation effects at increasing incident powers, as shown recently for
graphene. Here, we demonstrate room-temperature terahertz harmonic generation
in a BiSe topological insulator and topological-insulator-grating
metamaterial structures with surface-selective terahertz field enhancement. We
obtain a third-harmonic power approaching the milliwatt range for an incident
power of 75 mW - an improvement by two orders of magnitude compared to a
benchmarked graphene sample. We establish a framework in which this exceptional
performance is the result of thermodynamic harmonic generation by the massless
topological surface states, benefiting from ultrafast dissipation of electronic
heat via surface-bulk Coulomb interactions. These results are an important step
towards on-chip terahertz (opto)electronic applications
Clinical Heterogeneity of Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension Associated With Variants in TBX4
Background: The knowledge of hereditary predisposition has changed our understanding of Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension. Genetic testing has been widely extended and the application of Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension specific gene panels has allowed its inclusion in the diagnostic workup and increase the diagnostic ratio compared to the traditional sequencing techniques. This is particularly important in the differential diagnosis between Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension and Pulmonary Venoocclusive Disease.
Methods: Since November 2011, genetic testing is offered to all patients with idiopathic, hereditable and associated forms of Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension or Pulmonary Venoocclusive Disease included in the Spanish Registry of Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension. Herein, we present the clinical phenotype and prognosis of all Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension patients with disease-associated variants in TBX4.
Results: Out of 579 adults and 45 children, we found in eight patients from seven families, disease-causing associated variants in TBX4. All adult patients had a moderate-severe reduction in diffusion capacity. However, we observed a wide spectrum of clinical presentations, including Pulmonary Venoocclusive Disease suspicion, interstitial lung disease, pulmonary vascular abnormalities and congenital heart disease.
Conclusions: Genetic testing is now essential for a correct diagnosis work-up in Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension. TBX4-associated Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension has marked clinical heterogeneity. In this regard, a genetic study is extremely useful to obtain an accurate diagnosis and provide appropriate management.This project was founded by Project "Bases Gene´tico Moleculares de la Medicina de Precisio´n en la Hipertensio´n Arterial Pulmonar". Funder: Instituto Carlos III. Ministerio de Economı´a y Competitividad. https://www.isciii.es/Paginas/Inicio.aspx Award number: PI 18/01233 Grant Recipient: P E-
Oral contraceptives do not modify the risk of a second attack and disability accrual in a prospective cohort of women with a clinically isolated syndrome and early multiple sclerosis
Cohort study; Oral contraceptives; Second relapseEstudio de cohorte; Anticonceptivos orales; Segunda recaídaEstudi de cohorts; Anticonceptius orals; Segona recaigudaObjective:
To evaluate whether oral contraceptive (OC) use is associated with the risk of a second attack and disability accrual in women with a clinically isolated syndrome (CIS) and early multiple sclerosis (MS).
Methods:
Reproductive information from women included in the Barcelona CIS prospective cohort was collected through a self-reported cross-sectional survey. We examined the relationship of OC exposure with the risk of a second attack and confirmed Expanded Disability Status Scale of 3.0 using multivariate Cox regression models, adjusted by age, topography of CIS, oligoclonal bands, baseline brain T2 lesions, body size at menarche, smoking, and disease-modifying treatment (DMT). OC and DMT exposures were considered as time-varying variables. Findings were confirmed with sensitivity analyses using propensity score models.
Results:
A total of 495 women were included, 389 (78.6%) referred to ever use OC and 341 (68.9%) started OC before the CIS. Exposure to OC was not associated with a second attack (adjusted hazard ratio (aHR) = 0.73, 95% confidence interval (CI) = 0.33–1.61) or disability accrual (aHR = 0.81, 95% CI = 0.17–3.76). Sensitivity analyses confirmed these results.
Conclusion:
OC use does not modify the risk of second attack or disability accrual in patients with CIS and early MS, once considered as a time-dependent exposure and adjusted by other potential confounders.The author(s) disclosed receipt of the following financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article: This project was supported by FIS PI15/0070 from Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness of Spain
Deciphering multiple sclerosis disability with deep learning attention maps on clinical MRI
Deep learning; Disability; Structural MRIAprendizaje profundo; Discapacidad; Resonancia magnética estructuralAprenentatge profund; Discapacitat; Ressonància magnètica estructuralThe application of convolutional neural networks (CNNs) to MRI data has emerged as a promising approach to achieving unprecedented levels of accuracy when predicting the course of neurological conditions, including multiple sclerosis, by means of extracting image features not detectable through conventional methods. Additionally, the study of CNN-derived attention maps, which indicate the most relevant anatomical features for CNN-based decisions, has the potential to uncover key disease mechanisms leading to disability accumulation.
From a cohort of patients prospectively followed up after a first demyelinating attack, we selected those with T1-weighted and T2-FLAIR brain MRI sequences available for image analysis and a clinical assessment performed within the following six months (N = 319). Patients were divided into two groups according to expanded disability status scale (EDSS) score: ≥3.0 and < 3.0. A 3D-CNN model predicted the class using whole-brain MRI scans as input. A comparison with a logistic regression (LR) model using volumetric measurements as explanatory variables and a validation of the CNN model on an independent dataset with similar characteristics (N = 440) were also performed. The layer-wise relevance propagation method was used to obtain individual attention maps.
The CNN model achieved a mean accuracy of 79% and proved to be superior to the equivalent LR-model (77%). Additionally, the model was successfully validated in the independent external cohort without any re-training (accuracy = 71%). Attention-map analyses revealed the predominant role of frontotemporal cortex and cerebellum for CNN decisions, suggesting that the mechanisms leading to disability accrual exceed the mere presence of brain lesions or atrophy and probably involve how damage is distributed in the central nervous system.MS PATHS is funded by Biogen. This study has been possible thanks to a Junior Leader La Caixa Fellowship awarded to C. Tur (fellowship code is LCF/BQ/PI20/11760008) by “la Caixa” Foundation (ID 100010434). The salaries of C. Tur and Ll. Coll are covered by this award