7,072 research outputs found
Melody based tune retrieval over the World Wide Web
In this paper we describe the steps taken to develop a Web-based version of an existing stand-alone, single-user digital library application for melodical searching of a collection of music. For the three key components: input, searching, and output, we assess the suitability of various Web-based strategies that deal with the now distributed software architecture and explain the decisions we made. The resulting melody indexing service, known as MELDEX, has been in operation for one year, and the feed-back we have received has been favorable
Dramatic robustness of a multiple delay dispersed interferometer to spectrograph errors: how mixing delays reduces or cancels wavelength drift
We describe demonstrations of remarkable robustness to instrumental noises by using a multiple delay externally dispersed interferometer (EDI) on stellar observations at the Hale telescope. Previous observatory EDI demonstrations used a single delay. The EDI (also called “TEDI”) boosted the 2,700 resolution of the native TripleSpec NIR spectrograph (950-2450 nm) by as much as 10x to 27,000, using 7 overlapping delays up to 3 cm. We observed superb rejection of fixed pattern noises due to bad pixels, since the fringing signal responds only to changes in multiple exposures synchronous to the applied delay dithering. Remarkably, we observed a ~20x reduction of reaction in the output spectrum to PSF shifts of the native spectrograph along the dispersion direction, using our standard processing. This allowed high resolution observations under conditions of severe and irregular PSF drift otherwise not possible without the interferometer. Furthermore, we recently discovered an improved method of weighting and mixing data between pairs of delays that can theoretically further reduce the net reaction to PSF drift to zero. We demonstrate a 350x reduction in reaction to a native PSF shift using a simple simulation. This technique could similarly reduce radial velocity noise for future EDI’s that use two delays overlapped in delay space (or a single delay overlapping the native peak). Finally, we show an extremely high dynamic range EDI measurement of our ThAr lamp compared to a literature ThAr spectrum, observing weak features (~0.001x height of nearest strong line) that occur between the major lines. Because of individuality of each reference lamp, accurate knowledge of its spectrum between the (unfortunately) sparse major lines is important for precision radial velocimetry
Quantum computing with nearest neighbor interactions and error rates over 1%
Large-scale quantum computation will only be achieved if experimentally
implementable quantum error correction procedures are devised that can tolerate
experimentally achievable error rates. We describe a quantum error correction
procedure that requires only a 2-D square lattice of qubits that can interact
with their nearest neighbors, yet can tolerate quantum gate error rates over
1%. The precise maximum tolerable error rate depends on the error model, and we
calculate values in the range 1.1--1.4% for various physically reasonable
models. Even the lowest value represents the highest threshold error rate
calculated to date in a geometrically constrained setting, and a 50%
improvement over the previous record.Comment: 4 pages, 8 figure
Voltage gated inter-cation selective ion channels from graphene nanopores
With the ability to selectively control ionic flux, biological protein ion
channels perform a fundamental role in many physiological processes. For
practical applications that require the functionality of a biological ion
channel, graphene provides a promising solid-state alternative, due to its
atomic thinness and mechanical strength. Here, we demonstrate that nanopores
introduced into graphene membranes, as large as 50 nm in diameter, exhibit
inter-cation selectivity with a ~20x preference for K+ over divalent cations
and can be modulated by an applied gate voltage. Liquid atomic force microscopy
of the graphene devices reveals surface nanobubbles near the pore to be
responsible for the observed selective behavior. Molecular dynamics simulations
indicate that translocation of ions across the pore likely occurs via a thin
water layer at the edge of the pore and the nanobubble. Our results demonstrate
a significant improvement in the inter-cation selectivity displayed by a
solid-state nanopore device and by utilizing the pores in a de-wetted state,
offers an approach to fabricating selective graphene membranes that does not
rely on the fabrication of sub-nm pores
Experimental Demonstration of Greenberger-Horne-Zeilinger Correlations Using Nuclear Magnetic Resonance
The Greenberger-Horne-Zeilinger (GHZ) effect provides an example of quantum
correlations that cannot be explained by classical local hidden variables. This
paper reports on the experimental realization of GHZ correlations using nuclear
magnetic resonance (NMR). The NMR experiment differs from the originally
proposed GHZ experiment in several ways: it is performed on mixed states rather
than pure states; and instead of being widely separated, the spins on which it
is performed are all located in the same molecule. As a result, the NMR version
of the GHZ experiment cannot entirely rule out classical local hidden
variables. It nonetheless provides an unambiguous demonstration of the
"paradoxical" GHZ correlations, and shows that any classical hidden variables
must communicate by non-standard and previously undetected forces. The NMR
demonstration of GHZ correlations shows the power of NMR quantum information
processing techniques for demonstrating fundamental effects in quantum
mechanics.Comment: Latex2.09, 8 pages, 1 eps figur
How Sample Completeness Affects Gamma-Ray Burst Classification
Unsupervised pattern recognition algorithms support the existence of three
gamma-ray burst classes; Class I (long, large fluence bursts of intermediate
spectral hardness), Class II (short, small fluence, hard bursts), and Class III
(soft bursts of intermediate durations and fluences). The algorithms
surprisingly assign larger membership to Class III than to either of the other
two classes. A known systematic bias has been previously used to explain the
existence of Class III in terms of Class I; this bias allows the fluences and
durations of some bursts to be underestimated (Hakkila et al., ApJ 538, 165,
2000). We show that this bias primarily affects only the longest bursts and
cannot explain the bulk of the Class III properties. We resolve the question of
Class III existence by demonstrating how samples obtained using standard
trigger mechanisms fail to preserve the duration characteristics of small peak
flux bursts. Sample incompleteness is thus primarily responsible for the
existence of Class III. In order to avoid this incompleteness, we show how a
new dual timescale peak flux can be defined in terms of peak flux and fluence.
The dual timescale peak flux preserves the duration distribution of faint
bursts and correlates better with spectral hardness (and presumably redshift)
than either peak flux or fluence. The techniques presented here are generic and
have applicability to the studies of other transient events. The results also
indicate that pattern recognition algorithms are sensitive to sample
completeness; this can influence the study of large astronomical databases such
as those found in a Virtual Observatory.Comment: 29 pages, 6 figures, 3 tables, Accepted for publication in The
Astrophysical Journa
Quantum Process Tomography of the Quantum Fourier Transform
The results of quantum process tomography on a three-qubit nuclear magnetic
resonance quantum information processor are presented, and shown to be
consistent with a detailed model of the system-plus-apparatus used for the
experiments. The quantum operation studied was the quantum Fourier transform,
which is important in several quantum algorithms and poses a rigorous test for
the precision of our recently-developed strongly modulating control fields. The
results were analyzed in an attempt to decompose the implementation errors into
coherent (overall systematic), incoherent (microscopically deterministic), and
decoherent (microscopically random) components. This analysis yielded a
superoperator consisting of a unitary part that was strongly correlated with
the theoretically expected unitary superoperator of the quantum Fourier
transform, an overall attenuation consistent with decoherence, and a residual
portion that was not completely positive - although complete positivity is
required for any quantum operation. By comparison with the results of computer
simulations, the lack of complete positivity was shown to be largely a
consequence of the incoherent errors during the quantum process tomography
procedure. These simulations further showed that coherent, incoherent, and
decoherent errors can often be identified by their distinctive effects on the
spectrum of the overall superoperator. The gate fidelity of the experimentally
determined superoperator was 0.64, while the correlation coefficient between
experimentally determined superoperator and the simulated superoperator was
0.79; most of the discrepancies with the simulations could be explained by the
cummulative effect of small errors in the single qubit gates.Comment: 26 pages, 17 figures, four tables; in press, Journal of Chemical
Physic
Evidence of Positively Selected Sites in Mammalian a-Defensins
Defensins are a family of mammalian antimicrobial peptides that exhibit variable activity against a panel of microbes,
including bacteria, fungi, and enveloped viruses. We have employed a maximum-likelihood approach to detect evidence
of positive selection (adaptive evolution) in the evolution of these important molecules of the innate immune response.
We have identified 14 amino acid sites that are predicted to be subject to positive selection. Furthermore, we show that all these sites are located in the mature antimicrobial peptide and not in the prepropeptide region of the molecule, implying that they are of functional importance. These results suggest that mammalian a-defensins have been under selective pressure to evolve in response to potentially infectious challenges by fast-evolving microbes
Evidence of Positively Selected Sites in Mammalian a-Defensins
Defensins are a family of mammalian antimicrobial peptides that exhibit variable activity against a panel of microbes,
including bacteria, fungi, and enveloped viruses. We have employed a maximum-likelihood approach to detect evidence
of positive selection (adaptive evolution) in the evolution of these important molecules of the innate immune response.
We have identified 14 amino acid sites that are predicted to be subject to positive selection. Furthermore, we show that all these sites are located in the mature antimicrobial peptide and not in the prepropeptide region of the molecule, implying that they are of functional importance. These results suggest that mammalian a-defensins have been under selective pressure to evolve in response to potentially infectious challenges by fast-evolving microbes
Designed asymmetric coordination helicates with bis-β-diketonate ligands.
A new bis-(β-diketone) ligand featuring built-up structural asymmetry yields non-symmetric Fe(iii) and Ga(iii) dinuclear, triple-stranded helicates by design. Their structural properties have been studied, both in solid state and in solution, and compared with their corresponding symmetric analogues. The robustness observed shows the potential of this synthetic strategy to develop non-symmetric helicoidal motifs with specific functional groups
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