An integrated adaptive environment for fire and explosion analysis of steel frames - Part II: verification and application

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Zebrafish models of collagen VI-related myopathies

Collagen VI is an integral part of the skeletal muscle extracellular matrix, providing mechanical stability and facilitating matrix-dependent cell signaling. Mutations in collagen VI result in either Ullrich congenital muscular dystrophy (UCMD) or Bethlem myopathy (BM), with UCMD being clinically more severe. Recent studies demonstrating increased apoptosis and abnormal mitochondrial function in Col6a1 knockout mice and in human myoblasts have provided the first mechanistic insights into the pathophysiology of these diseases. However, how loss of collagen VI causes mitochondrial dysfunction remains to be understood. Progress is hindered in part by the lack of an adequate animal model for UCMD, as knockout mice have a mild motor phenotype. To further the understanding of these disorders, we have generated zebrafish models of the collagen VI myopathies. Morpholinos designed to exon 9 of col6a1 produced a severe muscle disease reminiscent of UCMD, while ones to exon 13 produced a milder phenotype similar to BM. UCMD-like zebrafish have increased cell death and abnormal mitochondria, which can be attenuated by treatment with the proton pump modifier cyclosporin A (CsA). CsA improved the motor deficits in UCMD-like zebrafish, but failed to reverse the sarcolemmal membrane damage. In all, we have successfully generated the first vertebrate model matching the clinical severity of UCMD and demonstrated that CsA provides phenotypic improvement, thus corroborating data from knockout mice supporting the use of mitochondrial permeability transition pore modifiers as therapeutics in patients, and providing proof of principle for the utility of the zebrafish as a powerful preclinical model

Quantum gates with topological phases

We investigate two models for performing topological quantum gates with the Aharonov-Bohm (AB) and Aharonov-Casher (AC) effects. Topological one- and two-qubit Abelian phases can be enacted with the AB effect using charge qubits, whereas the AC effect can be used to perform all single-qubit gates (Abelian and non-Abelian) for spin qubits. Possible experimental setups suitable for a solid state implementation are briefly discussed.Comment: 2 figures, RevTex

Determinisitic Optical Fock State Generation

We present a scheme for the deterministic generation of N-photon Fock states from N three-level atoms in a high-finesse optical cavity. The method applies an external laser pulsethat generates an $N$-photon output state while adiabatically keeping the atom-cavity system within a subspace of optically dark states. We present analytical estimates of the error due to amplitude leakage from these dark states for general N, and compare it with explicit results of numerical simulations for N \leq 5. The method is shown to provide a robust source of N-photon states under a variety of experimental conditions and is suitable for experimental implementation using a cloud of cold atoms magnetically trapped in a cavity. The resulting N-photon states have potential applications in fundamental studies of non-classical states and in quantum information processing.Comment: 25 pages, 9 figure

Identification of salt tolerance QTL in a wheat RIL mapping population using destructive and non-destructive phenotyping

Published online 24 August 2020. Corrected by: Corrigendum to: Identification of salt tolerance QTL in a wheat RIL mapping population using destructive and non-destructive phenotyping. Muhammad A. Asif, et al. Functional Plant Biology 49(7) 672 - 672. In the Acknowledgements, the ARC Centre of Excellence funding number was incorrect. The correct funding number is: CE140100008.Bread wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) is one of the most important food crops, however it is only moderately tolerant to salinity stress. To improve wheat yield under saline conditions, breeding for improved salinity tolerance of wheat is needed. We have identified nine quantitative trail loci (QTL) for different salt tolerance sub-traits in a recombinant inbred line (RIL) population, derived from the bi-parental cross of Excalibur × Kukri. This population was screened for salinity tolerance subtraits using a combination of both destructive and non-destructive phenotyping. Genotyping by sequencing (GBS) was used to construct a high-density genetic linkage map, consisting of 3236 markers, and utilised for mapping QTL. Of the nine mapped QTL, six were detected under salt stress, including QTL for maintenance of shoot growth under salinity (QG(1-5).asl-5A, QG(1-5).asl-7B) sodium accumulation (QNa.asl-2A), chloride accumulation (QCl.asl-2A, QCl.asl-3A) and potassium:sodium ratio (QK:Na.asl-2DS2). Potential candidate genes within these QTL intervals were shortlisted using bioinformatics tools. These findings are expected to facilitate the breeding of new salt tolerant wheat cultivars.Muhammad A. Asif, Melissa Garcia, Joanne Tilbrook, Chris Brien, Kate Dowling, Bettina Berger, Rhiannon K. Schilling, Laura Short, Christine Trittermann, Matthew Gilliham, Delphine Fleury, Stuart J. Roy and Allison S. Pearso

Numerical representation of quantum states in the positive-P and Wigner representations

Numerical stochastic integration is a powerful tool for the investigation of quantum dynamics in interacting many body systems. As with all numerical integration of differential equations, the initial conditions of the system being investigated must be specified. With application to quantum optics in mind, we show how various commonly considered quantum states can be numerically simulated by the use of widely available Gaussian and uniform random number generators. We note that the same methods can also be applied to computational studies of Bose-Einstein condensates, and give some examples of how this can be done.Comment: 16 pages, single column forma

Regression and the Maternal in the History of Psychoanalysis, 1900-1957

This paper examines the history of the concept of ‘regression’ as it was perceived by Sandor Ferenczi and some of his followers in the first half of the twentieth century. The first part provides a short history of the notion of ‘regression’ from the late nineteenth century to Ferenczi's work in the 1920s and 1930s. The second and third parts of the paper focus on two other thinkers on regression, who worked in Britain, under the influence of the Ferenczian paradigm – the interwar Scottish psychiatrist, Ian D. Suttie; and the British-Hungarian psychoanalyst, and Ferenczi's most important pupil, Michael Balint. Rather than a descriptive term which comes to designate a pathological mental stage, Ferenczi understood ‘regression’ as a much more literal phenomenon. For him, the mental desire to go backwards in time is a universal one, and a consequence of an inevitable traumatic separation from the mother in early childhood, which has some deep personal and cultural implications. The paper aims to show some close affinities between the preoccupation of some psychoanalysts with ‘regression’, and the growing interest in social and cultural aspects of ‘motherhood’ and ‘the maternal role’ in mid-twentieth-century British society