Bowen-York Tensors

There is derived, for a conformally flat three-space, a family of linear second-order partial differential operators which send vectors into tracefree, symmetric two-tensors. These maps, which are parametrized by conformal Killing vectors on the three-space, are such that the divergence of the resulting tensor field depends only on the divergence of the original vector field. In particular these maps send source-free electric fields into TT-tensors. Moreover, if the original vector field is the Coulomb field on $\mathbb{R}^3\backslash \lbrace0\rbrace$, the resulting tensor fields on $\mathbb{R}^3\backslash \lbrace0\rbrace$ are nothing but the family of TT-tensors originally written down by Bowen and York.Comment: 12 pages, Contribution to CQG Special Issue "A Spacetime Safari: Essays in Honour of Vincent Moncrief

Determination of the angle gamma using B -> D* V modes

We propose a method to determine the angle $\gamma=arg(V_{ub})$, using the $B\to D^*V$ ($V=K^*, \rho$) modes. The $D^*$ is considered to decay to $D \pi$. An interference of the $B \to D^{*0}V$ and $B \to \bar {D^{*0}}V$ amplitudes is achieved by looking at a common final state $f$, in the subsequent decays of $D^0/\bar{D^0}$. A detailed analysis of the angular distribution, allows determination, not only of $\gamma$ and $|V_{ub}|$, but also all the hadronic amplitudes and strong phases involved. No prior knowledge of doubly Cabibbo suppressed branching ratios of $D$ are required. Large CP violating asymmetries ($\sim30$ for $\gamma=30^o$) are possible if $\bar{D^0} \to f$ is doubly Cabbibo suppressed, while $D^0 \to f$ is Cabbibo allowed, for decays of $B^+$ or $B^0$.Comment: 12 Pages Revte

Banddehnungsmessung am Kniegelenk - Der Dehnungsmeßstreifen und seine Alternativen

Those techniques for measuring ligament tension at the knee joint that are most commonly cited and easiest to carry out are discussed, These include four techniques based on the use of strain gauges. Apart from the Omega transducer and the buckle transducer, there is also the tendon force transducer, and the application of strain gauges to the bony ligament insertion sites, Other indirect measuring methods considered are the mercury strain transducer and the Hall effect transducer. The parameter measured with all of these methods is fluctuating current or voltage, which is then correlated with ligament tension. Three direct measurements are also discussed: the separation distances of marked fibres of the ligaments, replacement of fibres by threads, and a load cell/bone plug construction. The measured value is equated with the effective change in ligament length

Stalking influenza by vaccination with pre-fusion headless HA mini-stem.

Inaccuracies in prediction of circulating viral strain genotypes and the possibility of novel reassortants causing a pandemic outbreak necessitate the development of an anti-influenza vaccine with increased breadth of protection and potential for rapid production and deployment. The hemagglutinin (HA) stem is a promising target for universal influenza vaccine as stem-specific antibodies have the potential to be broadly cross-reactive towards different HA subtypes. Here, we report the design of a bacterially expressed polypeptide that mimics a H5 HA stem by protein minimization to focus the antibody response towards the HA stem. The HA mini-stem folds as a trimer mimicking the HA prefusion conformation. It is resistant to thermal/chemical stress, and it binds to conformation-specific, HA stem-directed broadly neutralizing antibodies with high affinity. Mice vaccinated with the group 1 HA mini-stems are protected from morbidity and mortality against lethal challenge by both group 1 (H5 and H1) and group 2 (H3) influenza viruses, the first report of cross-group protection. Passive transfer of immune serum demonstrates the protection is mediated by stem-specific antibodies. Furthermore, antibodies indudced by these HA stems have broad HA reactivity, yet they do not have antibody-dependent enhancement activity

A high-resolution diatom-based Middle and Late Holocene environmental history of the Little Belt region, Baltic Sea

The large‐scale shifts in the salinity of the Baltic Sea over the Holocene are well understood and have been comprehensively documented using sedimentary proxy records. More recent work has focused on understanding how past salinity fluctuations have affected other ecological parameters (e.g. primary productivity, nutrient content) of the Baltic basin, and salinity changes over key events and over short time scales are still not well understood. The International Ocean Drilling Program Expedition 347 cored the Baltic basin in order to collect basin‐wide environmental records through a glacial–interglacial cycle. Site M0059 is located in the Little Belt between the Baltic Sea and the Atlantic Ocean. A composite splice section from Site M0059 was analysed at a decadal resolution to study changes in salinity, nutrient conditions and other surface water column parameters based on changes in diatom assemblages and on quantitative diatom‐based salinity inferences. A mesotrophic slightly brackish assemblage is seen in the lowermost analysed depths, corresponding to 7800–7500 cal. a BP . An increase in salinity and nutrient content of the water column leads into a meso‐eutrophic brackish phase. The observed salinity increase is rapid, lasting from 7500 to 7150 cal. a BP . Subsequently, the Little Belt becomes oligotrophic and is dominated by tychopelagic diatoms from c . 7100 to c . 3900 cal. a BP . This interval contains some of the highest salinities observed followed by diatom assemblages similar to those of the Northern Atlantic Ocean, composed primarily of cosmopolitan open ocean marine diatoms. A return to tychopelagic productivity is seen from 3850 to 980 cal. a BP . Anthropogenic eutrophication is detected in the last 300 years of the record, which intensifies in the uppermost sediments. These results represent the first decadally resolved record in the region and provide new insight into the transition to a brackish basin and subsequent ecological development.The large-scale shifts in the salinity of the Baltic Sea over the Holocene are well understood and have been comprehensively documented using sedimentary proxy records. More recent work has focused on understanding how past salinity fluctuations have affected other ecological parameters (e.g. primary productivity, nutrient content) of the Baltic basin, and salinity changes over key events and over short time scales are still not well understood. The International Ocean Drilling Program Expedition 347 cored the Baltic basin in order to collect basin-wide environmental records through a glacial-interglacial cycle. Site M0059 is located in the Little Belt between the Baltic Sea and the Atlantic Ocean. A composite splice section from Site M0059 was analysed at a decadal resolution to study changes in salinity, nutrient conditions and other surface water column parameters based on changes in diatom assemblages and on quantitative diatom-based salinity inferences. A mesotrophic slightly brackish assemblage is seen in the lowermost analysed depths, corresponding to 7800-7500 cal. a BP. An increase in salinity and nutrient content of the water column leads into a meso-eutrophic brackish phase. The observed salinity increase is rapid, lasting from 7500 to 7150 cal. a BP. Subsequently, the Little Belt becomes oligotrophic and is dominated by tychopelagic diatoms from c. 7100 to c. 3900 cal. a BP. This interval contains some of the highest salinities observed followed by diatom assemblages similar to those of the Northern Atlantic Ocean, composed primarily of cosmopolitan open oceanmarine diatoms. A return to tychopelagic productivity is seen from 3850 to 980 cal. a BP. Anthropogenic eutrophication is detected in the last 300 years of the record, which intensifies in the uppermost sediments. These results represent the first decadally resolved record in the region and provide new insight into the transition to a brackish basin and subsequent ecological development.Peer reviewe

Vaccination with viral vectors expressing NP, M1 and chimeric hemagglutinin induces broad protection against influenza virus challenge in mice

Seasonal influenza virus infections cause up to half a million deaths each year, the majority of which are older adults. Annual influenza virus vaccination protects against disease, but in the event of a mismatch between the circulating strain and vaccine strain, vaccine effectiveness is severely impacted. Therefore, there is an urgent need for a vaccine that induces broad protection against drifted seasonal and emerging pandemic influenza viruses. One approach in designing such a universal influenza virus vaccine is based on targeting conserved regions of the influenza virus hemagglutinin (HA), the major glycoprotein on the surface of the virus. Using chimeric hemagglutinin constructs (cHA), the immune system can be primed to produce antibody responses against the conserved immunosubdominant stalk region rather than the variable immunodominant head region. Furthermore, replication deficient viral vectors based on Chimpanzee Adenovirus (ChAdOx1) and Modified Vaccinia Ankara (MVA) virus expressing the influenza virus internal antigens, such as the nucleoprotein (NP) and the matrix protein 1 (M1), are capable of inducing strong influenza specific T cell responses in vaccinated individuals. This is another approach towards a broadly cross-protective influenza vaccine given the degree of conservation of NP and M1 across different influenza virus strains. Here, we combine these two platforms to evaluate the efficacy of a viral vector-based group 2 cHA intramuscular vaccination regime in mice to confer protection against influenza virus challenge of matched and mismatched group 2 strains. We show that vectored vaccines expressing both cHA and an NP-M1 fusion protein, in a prime-boost regimen (with different cHAs given at each vaccination), provide enhanced protection against H3N2 and H10N8 virus challenge when compared to vaccination with cHA alone or NP-M1 alone. The vaccine induced antibody responses against divergent HAs, NP, M1, and whole virus correlated with nature of administered vaccine and extent of protection seen across vaccinated groups. Influenza specific T cell responses were also increased in the vectored vaccines expressing both the cHA and the NP-M1 fusion protein. For further characterization, we are interested in looking at an optimal vaccination regimen, the possibility of an additional boost to induce cross-reactive antibodies, and the nature of the induced antibodies. Overall, these results improve our understanding of vaccination platforms capable of harnessing cellular and humoral immunity with the ultimate goal of designing a universal influenza vaccine

Characterizing entanglement with geometric entanglement witnesses

We show how to detect entangled, bound entangled, and separable bipartite quantum states of arbitrary dimension and mixedness using geometric entanglement witnesses. These witnesses are constructed using properties of the Hilbert-Schmidt geometry and can be shifted along parameterized lines. The involved conditions are simplified using Bloch decompositions of operators and states. As an example we determine the three different types of states for a family of two-qutrit states that is part of the "magic simplex", i.e. the set of Bell-state mixtures of arbitrary dimension.Comment: 19 pages, 4 figures, some typos and notational errors corrected. To be published in J. Phys. A: Math. Theo

Engineering a C-Phase quantum gate: optical design and experimental realization

A two qubit quantum gate, namely the C-Phase, has been realized by exploiting the longitudinal momentum (i.e. the optical path) degree of freedom of a single photon. The experimental setup used to engineer this quantum gate represents an advanced version of the high stability closed-loop interferometric setup adopted to generate and characterize 2-photon 4-qubit Phased Dicke states. Some experimental results, dealing with the characterization of multipartite entanglement of the Phased Dicke states are also discussed in detail.Comment: accepted for publication on EPJ

Kulikovskiyia gen. nov. (Bacillariophyceae) from the lateritic rock pools of the Western Ghats, India and from Hainan Province, China

A new triundulate naviculoid diatom genus is described from the Western Ghats of Peninsular India and Hainan Province, China. The new taxon, Kulikovskiyia gen. nov. has robust conical spines along its margin and at the apices and the external valve face has longitudinally‐oriented siliceous slat system extending the length of the valve. The external distal raphe ends bifurcate and terminates on the valve face. There appear to be superficial similarities between this Asian genus and species and Playaensis, a genus comprised of two species found only in the western USA. The systematic position of Kulikovskiyia is discussed, and other than noting its similarities to other biraphid naviculoid diatoms due to symmetry features and the position of the raphe, we are uncertain about its systematic placement at finer levels of classification.Peer Reviewedhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/153713/1/pre12400_am.pdfhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/153713/2/pre12400.pd