Steady non-ideal detonations in cylindrical sticks of expolsives

Numerical simulations of detonations in cylindrical rate-sticks of highly non-ideal explosives are performed, using a simple model with a weakly pressure dependent rate law and a pseudo-polytropic equation of state. Some numerical issues with such simulations are investigated, and it is shown that very high resolution (hundreds of points in the reaction zone) are required for highly accurate (converged) solutions. High resolution simulations are then used to investigate the qualitative dependences of the detonation driving zone structure on the diameter and degree of confinement of the explosive charge. The simulation results are used to show that, given the radius of curvature of the shock at the charge axis, the steady detonation speed and the axial solution are accurately predicted by a quasi-one-dimensional theory, even for cases where the detonation propagates at speeds significantly below the Chapman-Jouguet speed. Given reaction rate and equation of state models, this quasi-one-dimensional theory offers a significant improvement to Wood-Kirkwood theories currently used in industry

A comparison of statistical machine learning methods in heartbeat detection and classification

In health care, patients with heart problems require quick responsiveness in a clinical setting or in the operating theatre. Towards that end, automated classification of heartbeats is vital as some heartbeat irregularities are time consuming to detect. Therefore, analysis of electro-cardiogram (ECG) signals is an active area of research. The methods proposed in the literature depend on the structure of a heartbeat cycle. In this paper, we use interval and amplitude based features together with a few samples from the ECG signal as a feature vector. We studied a variety of classification algorithms focused especially on a type of arrhythmia known as the ventricular ectopic fibrillation (VEB). We compare the performance of the classifiers against algorithms proposed in the literature and make recommendations regarding features, sampling rate, and choice of the classifier to apply in a real-time clinical setting. The extensive study is based on the MIT-BIH arrhythmia database. Our main contribution is the evaluation of existing classifiers over a range sampling rates, recommendation of a detection methodology to employ in a practical setting, and extend the notion of a mixture of experts to a larger class of algorithms

Quantum Cryptography Using Single Particle Entanglement

A quantum cryptography scheme based on entanglement between a single particle state and a vacuum state is proposed. The scheme utilizes linear optics devices to detect the superposition of the vacuum and single particle states. Existence of an eavesdropper can be detected by using a variant of Bell's inequality.Comment: 4 pages, 3figures, revte

Applicability and reproducibility of acute myeloid leukaemia stem cell assessment in a multi-centre setting

Leukaemic stem cells (LSC) have been experimentally defined as the leukaemia-propagating population and are thought to be the cellular reservoir of relapse in acute myeloid leukaemia (AML). Therefore, LSC measurements are warranted to facilitate accurate risk stratification. Previously, we published the composition of a one-tube flow cytometric assay, characterised by the presence of 13 important membrane markers for LSC detection

Encoded Recoupling and Decoupling: An Alternative to Quantum Error Correcting Codes, Applied to Trapped Ion Quantum Computation

A recently developed theory for eliminating decoherence and design constraints in quantum computers, ``encoded recoupling and decoupling'', is shown to be fully compatible with a promising proposal for an architecture enabling scalable ion-trap quantum computation [D. Kielpinski et al., Nature 417, 709 (2002)]. Logical qubits are encoded into pairs of ions. Logic gates are implemented using the Sorensen-Molmer (SM) scheme applied to pairs of ions at a time. The encoding offers continuous protection against collective dephasing. Decoupling pulses, that are also implemented using the SM scheme directly to the encoded qubits, are capable of further reducing various other sources of qubit decoherence, such as due to differential dephasing and due to decohered vibrational modes. The feasibility of using the relatively slow SM pulses in a decoupling scheme quenching the latter source of decoherence follows from the observed 1/f spectrum of the vibrational bath.Comment: 12 pages, no figure

A secreted PD-L1 splice variant that covalently dimerizes and mediates immunosuppression

Targeting immune checkpoint pathways, such as programmed death ligand-1 (PD-L1, also known as CD274 or B7-H1) or its receptor programmed cell death-1 (PD-1) has shown improved survival for patients with numerous types of cancers, not limited to lung cancer, melanoma, renal cell carcinoma, and Hodgkin lymphoma. PD-L1 is a co-inhibitory molecule whose expression on the surface of tumor cells is associated with worse prognosis in many tumors. Here we describe a splice variant (secPD-L1) that does not splice into the transmembrane domain, but instead produces a secreted form of PD-L1 that has a unique 18 amino acid tail containing a cysteine that allows it to homodimerize and more effectively inhibit lymphocyte function than monomeric soluble PD-L1. We show that recombinant secPD-L1 can dimerize and inhibit T-cell proliferation and IFN-gamma production in vitro. The secPD-L1 variant is expressed by malignant cells in vitro that also express high levels of full-length PD-L1. Transcriptomic analysis of gene expression across The Cancer Genome Atlas found the strongest association of secPD-L1 with full-length PD-L1, but also with subsets of immunologic genes, such as in myeloid-derived suppressor cells. Moreover, the splice variant is also expressed in normal tissues and within normal peripheral blood cells it is preferentially expressed in activated myeloid cells. This is the first report of a form of secreted PD-L1 that homodimerizes and is functionally active. SecPD-L1 may function as a paracrine negative immune regulator within the tumor, since secPD-L1 does not require a cell-to-cell interaction to mediate its inhibitory effect

Search for the standard model Higgs boson decaying into two photons in pp collisions at sqrt(s)=7 TeV

A search for a Higgs boson decaying into two photons is described. The analysis is performed using a dataset recorded by the CMS experiment at the LHC from pp collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of 7 TeV, which corresponds to an integrated luminosity of 4.8 inverse femtobarns. Limits are set on the cross section of the standard model Higgs boson decaying to two photons. The expected exclusion limit at 95% confidence level is between 1.4 and 2.4 times the standard model cross section in the mass range between 110 and 150 GeV. The analysis of the data excludes, at 95% confidence level, the standard model Higgs boson decaying into two photons in the mass range 128 to 132 GeV. The largest excess of events above the expected standard model background is observed for a Higgs boson mass hypothesis of 124 GeV with a local significance of 3.1 sigma. The global significance of observing an excess with a local significance greater than 3.1 sigma anywhere in the search range 110-150 GeV is estimated to be 1.8 sigma. More data are required to ascertain the origin of this excess.Comment: Submitted to Physics Letters

Measurement of isolated photon production in pp and PbPb collisions at sqrt(sNN) = 2.76 TeV

Isolated photon production is measured in proton-proton and lead-lead collisions at nucleon-nucleon centre-of-mass energies of 2.76 TeV in the pseudorapidity range |eta|<1.44 and transverse energies ET between 20 and 80 GeV with the CMS detector at the LHC. The measured ET spectra are found to be in good agreement with next-to-leading-order perturbative QCD predictions. The ratio of PbPb to pp isolated photon ET-differential yields, scaled by the number of incoherent nucleon-nucleon collisions, is consistent with unity for all PbPb reaction centralities.Comment: Submitted to Physics Letters