1,288 research outputs found
Improving Deep Brain Stimulation Electrode Performance in vivo Through Use of Conductive Hydrogel Coatings
Active implantable neurological devices like deep brain stimulators have been used over the past few decades to treat movement disorders such as those in people with Parkinson’s disease and more recently, in psychiatric conditions like obsessive compulsive disorder. Electrode-tissue interfaces that support safe and effective targeting of specific brain regions are critical to success of these devices. Development of directional electrodes that activate smaller volumes of brain tissue requires electrodes to operate safely with higher charge densities. Coatings such as conductive hydrogels (CHs) provide lower impedances and higher charge injection limits (CILs) than standard platinum electrodes and support safer application of smaller electrode sizes. The aim of this study was to examine the chronic in vivo performance of a new low swelling CH coating that supports higher safe charge densities than traditional platinum electrodes. A range of hydrogel blends were engineered and their swelling and electrical performance compared. Electrochemical performance and stability of high and low swelling formulations were compared during insertion into a model brain in vitro and the formulation with lower swelling characteristics was chosen for the in vivo study. CH-coated or uncoated Pt electrode arrays were implanted into the brains of 14 rats, and their electrochemical performance was tested weekly for 8 weeks. Tissue response and neural survival was assessed histologically following electrode array removal. CH coating resulted in significantly lower voltage transient impedance, higher CIL, lower electrochemical impedance spectroscopy, and higher charge storage capacity compared to uncoated Pt electrodes in vivo, and this advantage was maintained over the 8-week implantation. There was no significant difference in evoked potential thresholds, signal-to-noise ratio, tissue response or neural survival between CH-coated and uncoated Pt groups. The significant electrochemical advantage and stability of CH coating in the brain supports the suitability of this coating technology for future development of smaller, higher fidelity electrode arrays with higher charge density requirement
Quantum memory for entangled two-mode squeezed states
A quantum memory for light is a key element for the realization of future
quantum information networks. Requirements for a good quantum memory are (i)
versatility (allowing a wide range of inputs) and (ii) true quantum coherence
(preserving quantum information). Here we demonstrate such a quantum memory for
states possessing Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen (EPR) entanglement. These
multi-photon states are two-mode squeezed by 6.0 dB with a variable orientation
of squeezing and displaced by a few vacuum units. This range encompasses
typical input alphabets for a continuous variable quantum information protocol.
The memory consists of two cells, one for each mode, filled with cesium atoms
at room temperature with a memory time of about 1msec. The preservation of
quantum coherence is rigorously proven by showing that the experimental memory
fidelity 0.52(2) significantly exceeds the benchmark of 0.45 for the best
possible classical memory for a range of displacements.Comment: main text 5 pages, supplementary information 3 page
Microscopic observation of magnon bound states and their dynamics
More than eighty years ago, H. Bethe pointed out the existence of bound
states of elementary spin waves in one-dimensional quantum magnets. To date,
identifying signatures of such magnon bound states has remained a subject of
intense theoretical research while their detection has proved challenging for
experiments. Ultracold atoms offer an ideal setting to reveal such bound states
by tracking the spin dynamics after a local quantum quench with single-spin and
single-site resolution. Here we report on the direct observation of two-magnon
bound states using in-situ correlation measurements in a one-dimensional
Heisenberg spin chain realized with ultracold bosonic atoms in an optical
lattice. We observe the quantum walk of free and bound magnon states through
time-resolved measurements of the two spin impurities. The increased effective
mass of the compound magnon state results in slower spin dynamics as compared
to single magnon excitations. In our measurements, we also determine the decay
time of bound magnons, which is most likely limited by scattering on thermal
fluctuations in the system. Our results open a new pathway for studying
fundamental properties of quantum magnets and, more generally, properties of
interacting impurities in quantum many-body systems.Comment: 8 pages, 7 figure
A Rydberg Quantum Simulator
Following Feynman and as elaborated on by Lloyd, a universal quantum
simulator (QS) is a controlled quantum device which reproduces the dynamics of
any other many particle quantum system with short range interactions. This
dynamics can refer to both coherent Hamiltonian and dissipative open system
evolution. We investigate how laser excited Rydberg atoms in large spacing
optical or magnetic lattices can provide an efficient implementation of a
universal QS for spin models involving (high order) n-body interactions. This
includes the simulation of Hamiltonians of exotic spin models involving
n-particle constraints such as the Kitaev toric code, color code, and lattice
gauge theories with spin liquid phases. In addition, it provides the
ingredients for dissipative preparation of entangled states based on
engineering n-particle reservoir couplings. The key basic building blocks of
our architecture are efficient and high-fidelity n-qubit entangling gates via
auxiliary Rydberg atoms, including a possible dissipative time step via optical
pumping. This allows to mimic the time evolution of the system by a sequence of
fast, parallel and high-fidelity n-particle coherent and dissipative Rydberg
gates.Comment: 8 pages, 4 figure
Coupling Superconducting Qubits via a Cavity Bus
Superconducting circuits are promising candidates for constructing quantum
bits (qubits) in a quantum computer; single-qubit operations are now routine,
and several examples of two qubit interactions and gates having been
demonstrated. These experiments show that two nearby qubits can be readily
coupled with local interactions. Performing gates between an arbitrary pair of
distant qubits is highly desirable for any quantum computer architecture, but
has not yet been demonstrated. An efficient way to achieve this goal is to
couple the qubits to a quantum bus, which distributes quantum information among
the qubits. Here we show the implementation of such a quantum bus, using
microwave photons confined in a transmission line cavity, to couple two
superconducting qubits on opposite sides of a chip. The interaction is mediated
by the exchange of virtual rather than real photons, avoiding cavity induced
loss. Using fast control of the qubits to switch the coupling effectively on
and off, we demonstrate coherent transfer of quantum states between the qubits.
The cavity is also used to perform multiplexed control and measurement of the
qubit states. This approach can be expanded to more than two qubits, and is an
attractive architecture for quantum information processing on a chip.Comment: 6 pages, 4 figures, to be published in Natur
In situ interface engineering for probing the limit of quantum dot photovoltaic devices.
Quantum dot (QD) photovoltaic devices are attractive for their low-cost synthesis, tunable band gap and potentially high power conversion efficiency (PCE). However, the experimentally achieved efficiency to date remains far from ideal. Here, we report an in-situ fabrication and investigation of single TiO2-nanowire/CdSe-QD heterojunction solar cell (QDHSC) using a custom-designed photoelectric transmission electron microscope (TEM) holder. A mobile counter electrode is used to precisely tune the interface area for in situ photoelectrical measurements, which reveals a strong interface area dependent PCE. Theoretical simulations show that the simplified single nanowire solar cell structure can minimize the interface area and associated charge scattering to enable an efficient charge collection. Additionally, the optical antenna effect of nanowire-based QDHSCs can further enhance the absorption and boost the PCE. This study establishes a robust 'nanolab' platform in a TEM for in situ photoelectrical studies and provides valuable insight into the interfacial effects in nanoscale solar cells
Physicochemical conditions and timing of rodingite formation: evidence from rodingite-hosted fluid inclusions in the JM Asbestos mine, Asbestos, Québec
Fluid inclusions and geological relationships indicate that rodingite formation in the Asbestos ophiolite, Québec, occurred in two, or possibly three, separate episodes during thrusting of the ophiolite onto the Laurentian margin, and that it involved three fluids. The first episode of rodingitization, which affected diorite, occurred at temperatures of between 290 and 360°C and pressures of 2.5 to 4.5 kbar, and the second episode, which affected granite and slate, occurred at temperatures of between 325 and 400°C and pressures less than 3 kbar. The fluids responsible for these episodes of alteration were moderately to strongly saline (~1.5 to 6.3 m eq. NaCl), rich in divalent cations and contained appreciable methane. A possible third episode of alteration is suggested by primary fluid inclusions in vesuvianite-rich bodies and secondary inclusions in other types of rodingite, with significantly lower trapping temperatures, salinity and methane content. The association of the aqueous fluids with hydrocarbon-rich fluids containing CH4 and higher order alkanes, but no CO2, suggests strongly that the former originated from the serpentinites. The similarities in the composition of the fluids in all rock types indicate that the ophiolite had already been thrust onto the slates when rodingitization occurred
Two-orbital SU(N) magnetism with ultracold alkaline-earth atoms
Fermionic alkaline-earth atoms have unique properties that make them
attractive candidates for the realization of novel atomic clocks and degenerate
quantum gases. At the same time, they are attracting considerable theoretical
attention in the context of quantum information processing. Here we demonstrate
that when such atoms are loaded in optical lattices, they can be used as
quantum simulators of unique many-body phenomena. In particular, we show that
the decoupling of the nuclear spin from the electronic angular momentum can be
used to implement many-body systems with an unprecedented degree of symmetry,
characterized by the SU(N) group with N as large as 10. Moreover, the interplay
of the nuclear spin with the electronic degree of freedom provided by a stable
optically excited state allows for the study of spin-orbital physics. Such
systems may provide valuable insights into strongly correlated physics of
transition metal oxides, heavy fermion materials, and spin liquid phases.Comment: 15 pages, 10 figures. V2: extended experimental accessibility and
Kondo sections in the main text (including new Fig. 5b) and in the Methods;
reorganized other parts; added reference
Reliability and tolerance comparison in water supply networks
The final publication is available at Springer via http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s11269-010-9753-2Urban water supply is a high priority service and so looped networks are extensively used in order to considerably reduce the number of consumers affected by a failure. Looped networks may be redundant in connectivity and capacity. The concept of reliability has been introduced in an attempt to quantitatively measure the possibility of maintaining an adequate service for a given period. Numerous researchers have considered reliability as a measure of redundancy. This concept is usually implicit, but some researchers have even stated it explicitly. This paper shows why reliability cannot be considered a measure of redundancy given that branched networks can achieve high values of reliability and this would deny the fact that a looped network is more reliable than a branched network with a similar layout and size. To this end the paper discusses two quantitative indices for measuring expected network behavior: reliability and tolerance. These indices are calculated and a comparison is made between looped, branched, and mixed networks. © 2011 Springer Science+Business Media B.V.The authors wish to acknowledge the support received from project IDAWAS, DPI2009-11591, of the Directorate-General of Research at the Spanish Ministry of Education, the grant PAID-02-09 for a stay at the Universidad Politecnica de Valencia by the first author, and a grant MAEC-AECI 0000202066 awarded to the second author by the Ministerio de Asuntos Exteriores y Cooperacion of Spain. The use of English in this paper was revised by John Rawlins; and the revision was funded by the Universidad Politecnica de Valencia, Spain.MartÃnez-RodrÃguez, JB.; Montalvo Arango, I.; Izquierdo Sebastián, J.; Pérez GarcÃa, R. (2011). Reliability and tolerance comparison in water supply networks. 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Potential effects of oilseed rape expressing oryzacystatin-1 (OC-1) and of purified insecticidal proteins on larvae of the solitary bee Osmia bicornis
Despite their importance as pollinators in crops and wild plants, solitary bees have not previously been included in non-target testing of insect-resistant transgenic crop plants. Larvae of many solitary bees feed almost exclusively on pollen and thus could be highly exposed to transgene products expressed in the pollen. The potential effects of pollen from oilseed rape expressing the cysteine protease inhibitor oryzacystatin-1 (OC-1) were investigated on larvae of the solitary bee Osmia bicornis (= O. rufa). Furthermore, recombinant OC-1 (rOC-1), the Bt toxin Cry1Ab and the snowdrop lectin Galanthus nivalis agglutinin (GNA) were evaluated for effects on the life history parameters of this important pollinator. Pollen provisions from transgenic OC-1 oilseed rape did not affect overall development. Similarly, high doses of rOC-1 and Cry1Ab as well as a low dose of GNA failed to cause any significant effects. However, a high dose of GNA (0.1%) in the larval diet resulted in significantly increased development time and reduced efficiency in conversion of pollen food into larval body weight. Our results suggest that OC-1 and Cry1Ab expressing transgenic crops would pose a negligible risk for O. bicornis larvae, whereas GNA expressing plants could cause detrimental effects, but only if bees were exposed to high levels of the protein. The described bioassay with bee brood is not only suitable for early tier non-target tests of transgenic plants, but also has broader applicability to other crop protection products
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