Bypassing state initialisation in perfect state transfer protocols on spin-chains

Although a complete picture of the full evolution of complex quantum systems would certainly be the most desirable goal, for particular Quantum Information Processing schemes such an analysis is not necessary. When quantum correlations between only specific elements of a many-body system are required for the performance of a protocol, a more distinguished and specialised investigation is helpful. Here, we provide a striking example with the achievement of perfect state transfer in a spin chain without state initialisation, whose realisation has been shown to be possible in virtue of the correlations set between the first and last spin of the transmission-chain.Comment: 8 pages, 2 figures, RevTeX

Bacterial community dynamics in horizontal flow constructed wetlands with different plants for high salinity industrial wastewater polishing

This study is focused on the diversity of bacterial communities from two series of horizontal subsurface flow constructed wetlands (CW) polishing high salinity tannery wastewater. Each series was planted with Arundo donax or Sarcocornia sp. in a substrate composed by expanded clay and sand. Chemical and biochemical oxygen demand removal efficiencies were similar in each series, varying between 58 and 67% (inlet COD 218 ± 28 mg L−1) and 60 and 77% (inlet BOD5 37 ± 6 mg L−1), respectively. High numbers of culturable bacteria were obtained from substrate and root samples – 5.75 × 106-3.95 × 108 CFU g−1 recovered on marine agar and 1.72 × 107-8.46 × 108 CFU g−1 on nutrient agar. Fifty bacterial isolates were retrieved from the CW, related phylogenetically to Firmicutes, Actinobacteria, Bacteroidetes, α-, β-, and γ-Proteobacteria. Changes in the bacterial communities, from roots and substrate of each series, related to the plant species, hydraulic loading rates and along CW operation were examined using denaturating gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE). The clustering analysis suggested that a diverse and distinct bacterial community inhabits each series, which was related to the type of plant present in each CW.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Finite temperature behaviour of the ISS-uplifted KKLT model

We study the static phase structure of the ISS-KKLT model for moduli stabilisation and uplifting to a zero cosmological constant. Since the supersymmetry breaking sector and the moduli sector are only gravitationally coupled, we expect negligible quantum effects of the modulus upon the ISS sector, and the other way around. Under this assumption, we show that the ISS fields end up in the metastable vacua. The reason is not only that it is thermally favoured (second order phase transition) compared to the phase transition towards the supersymmetric vacua, but rather that the metastable vacua form before the supersymmetric ones. This nice feature is exclusively due to the presence of the KKLT sector. We also show that supergravity effects are negligible around the origin of the field space. Finally, we turn to the modulus sector and show that there is no destabilisation effect coming from the ISS sector.Comment: 23 pages, 3 figures, mistake corrected, one plot updated, physical conclusions unchange

Testosterone and Biological Characteristics of Breast Cancers in Postmenopausal Women

Abstract Androgens are involved in the development of breast cancer, although the mechanisms remain unclear. To further investigate androgens in breast cancer, we examined the relations between serum testosterone and age, body mass index (BMI), tumor size, histologic type, grade, axillary node involvement, estrogen receptor status, progesterone receptor status, and HER2 overexpression in a cross-sectional study of 592 postmenopausal breast cancer patients. Mean testosterone differences according to categories of patient and tumor characteristics were assayed by Fisher's or Kruskall-Wallis test as appropriate; adjusted odds ratios (OR) of having a tumor characteristic by testosterone tertiles were estimated by logistic regression. Testosterone concentrations were significantly higher in women with BMI ≥30 versus BMI <25. ORs of having a tumor ≥2 cm increased significantly with increasing testosterone tertiles, and the association was stronger in women ≥65 years. The OR of having infiltrating ductal carcinoma was significantly higher in the highest compared with the lowest testosterone tertile. ORs of having estrogen receptor– and progesterone receptor–negative versus estrogen receptor– and progesterone receptor–positive tumors decreased significantly with increasing testosterone tertiles. In women ≥70 years, those with high testosterone had a significantly greater OR of HER2-negative cancer than those with low testosterone. These results support previous findings that high-circulating testosterone is a marker of hormone-dependent breast cancer. The age-related differences in the association of testosterone with other disease and patient characteristics suggest that breast cancers in older postmenopausal women differ markedly from those in younger postmenopausal women. The relationship between testosterone and HER2 status in the oldest patients merits further investigation. (Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev 2009;18(11):2942–8

Monte Carlo integration in Glauber model analysis of reactions of halo nuclei

Reaction and elastic differential cross sections are calculated for light nuclei in the framework of the Glauber theory. The optical phase-shift function is evaluated by Monte Carlo integration. This enables us to use the most accurate wave functions and calculate the phase-shift functions without approximation. Examples of proton nucleus (e.g. p-$^6$He, p-$^6$Li) and nucleus-nucleus (e.g. $^6$He$-^{12}$C) scatterings illustrate the effectiveness of the method. This approach gives us a possibility of a more stringent analysis of the high-energy reactions of halo nuclei.Comment: 20 pages, 8 figure

Detecção De Cistos De Giardia Spp. E Oocistos De Cryptosporidium Spp. Na água Bruta Das Estações De Tratamento No Município De Blumenau, Sc, Brasil

Giardia spp. and Cryptosporidium spp. are water-borne pathogenic protozoans spread through fecal-oral transmission which cause several health problems, to include gastrointestinal diseases associated with the consumption of contaminated water. There are limited data regarding the occurrence of these protozoans in surface waters in southern Brazil. The aim of this study was therefore to investigate the presence of cysts and oocysts in untreated water collected from water treatment plants in Blumenau, Santa Catarina State, Brazil. The methodology employed to study the protozoans was filtration through mixed cellulose ester membranes followed by the immunofluorescence reaction using the Merifluor® kit. Microbiological analysis was conducted using the Standard Methods for the Examination of Water and Wastewater and multi-parameter probes were used for the physico-chemical analysis. Cysts of Giardia spp. were found in 23.19% of the samples and oocysts of Cryptosporidium spp. in 7.24% of the samples (n=67). All of the samples analyzed were contaminated with Escherichia coli and 11.76% of the untreated water samples had turbidity values higher than the recommended limit. In the case of the treated water samples, 23.52% had turbidity values above the limit established by legislation (Portaria MS 2914/2011). The detection of pathogenic protozoans in the untreated water at the treatment plants highlights the importance of adopting preventative measures, such as the protection of areas where water is present and adequate treatment of domestic sewage, in order to reducing the risk of protozoan transmission via potable water. © 2016, Institute for Environmental Research in Hydrographic Basins (IPABHi). All rights reserved.11368970

Liver-specific methionine adenosyltransferase MAT1A gene expression is associated with a specific pattern of promoter methylation and histone acetylation: implications for MAT1A silencing during transformation

Methionine adenosyltransferase (MAT) is the enzyme that catalyzes the synthesis of S-adenosylmethionine (AdoMet), the main donor of methyl groups in the cell. In mammals MAT is the product of two genes, MAT1A and MAT2A. MAT1A is expressed only in the mature liver whereas fetal hepatocytes, extrahepatic tissues and liver cancer cells express MAT2A. The mechanisms behind the tissue and differentiation state specific MAT1A expression are not known. In the present work we examined MAT1A promoter methylation status by means of methylation sensitive restriction enzyme analysis. Our data indicate that MAT1A promoter is hypomethylated in liver and hypermethylated in kidney and fetal rat hepatocytes, indicating that this modification is tissue specific and developmentally regulated. Immunoprecipitation of mononucleosomes from liver and kidney tissues with antibodies mainly specific to acetylated histone H4 and subsequent Southern blot analysis with a MAT1A promoter probe demonstrated that MAT1A expression is linked to elevated levels of chromatin acetylation. Early changes in MAT1A methylation are already observed in the precancerous cirrhotic livers from rats, which show reduced MAT1A expression. Human hepatoma cell lines in which MAT1A is not expressed were also hypermethylated at this locus. Finally we demonstrate that MAT1A expression is reactivated in the human hepatoma cell line HepG2 treated with 5-aza-2'-deoxycytidine or the histone deacetylase inhibitor trichostatin, suggesting a role for DNA hypermethylation and histone deacetylation in MAT1A silencing

Forward coherent ϕ\phi-meson photoproduction from deuterons near threshold

Differential cross sections and decay asymmetries for coherent $\phi$-meson photoproduction from deuterons were measured for the first time at forward angles using linearly polarized photons at $E_{\gamma}$= 1.5-2.4 GeV. This reaction offers a unique way to directly access natural-parity Pomeron dynamics and gluon exchange at low energies. The cross sections at zero degrees increase with increasing photon energy. The decay asymmetries demonstrate a complete dominance of natural-parity exchange processes, showing that isovector unnatural-parity $\pi$-meson exchange is small. Nevertheless the deduced cross sections of $\phi$-mesons from nucleons contributed by isoscalar t-channel exchange processes are not well described by the conventional Pomeron model.Comment: 14 pages, 6 figures. Final published versio

Hemispheric Cortical, Cerebellar and Caudate Atrophy Associated to Cognitive Impairment in Metropolitan Mexico City Young Adults Exposed to Fine Particulate Matter Air Pollution

Exposures to fine particulate matter PM2.5 are associated with Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s (AD, PD) and TDP-43 pathology in young Metropolitan Mexico City (MMC) residents. Highresolution structural T1-weighted brain MRI and/or Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) data were examined in 302 volunteers age 32.7 ± 6.0 years old. We used multivariate linear regressions to examine cortical surface area and thickness, subcortical and cerebellar volumes and MoCA in ≤30 vs. ≥31 years old. MMC residents exposed to PM2.5 ~ 30.9 µg/m3. Robust hemispheric differences in frontal and temporal lobes, caudate and cerebellar gray and white matter and strong associations between MoCA total and index scores and caudate bilateral volumes, frontotemporal and cerebellar volumetric changes were documented. MoCA LIS scores are affected early and low pollution controls ≥ 31 years old have higher MoCA vs. MMC counterparts (p ≤ 0.0001). Residency in MMC is associated with cognitive impairment and overlapping targeted patterns of brain atrophy described for AD, PD and Fronto-Temporal Dementia (FTD). MMC children and young adult longitudinal studies are urgently needed to define brain development impact, cognitive impairment and brain atrophy related to air pollution. Identification of early AD, PD and FTD biomarkers and reductions on PM2.5 emissions, including poorly regulated heavy-duty diesel vehicles, should be prioritized to protect 21.8 million highly exposed MMC urbanites

Morfoanatomia e histoquímica da semente de sororoca (Phenakospermum guyannense (Rich.) Endl. - Strelitziaceae)

Phenakospermum guyannense, popularly known in the Amazon as sororoca, is usually found along rivers and in ombrophilous environments. The objective of this study was to describe the morpho-anatomy and histochemistry of mature seeds of P. guyannense collected at the Urubuí Waterfall, Presidente Figueiredo, Amazonas state, Brazil. Seed anatomy was studied using a light and a scanning electron microscopes (SEM). Histochemical tests were performed to identify phenolic compounds, starch, protein and lipids. The mature seed of P. guyannense is stenospermic, with a black seed coat composed of several layers of different cell types, with most containing phenolic compounds. The hilum is punctiform, surrounded by cells, which form the aryl. The endosperm is solid, formed by tetrahedral cells containing starch and protein. The embryo, which is cylindrical and located in the proximal region, is basal capitate, with cells containing lipids and proteins and is composed of a slightly dilated hypocotyl-radicle axis. The haustorium is flattened and located in the distal region