418 research outputs found
Ignorance is bliss: General and robust cancellation of decoherence via no-knowledge quantum feedback
A "no-knowledge" measurement of an open quantum system yields no information
about any system observable; it only returns noise input from the environment.
Surprisingly, performing such a no-knowledge measurement can be advantageous.
We prove that a system undergoing no-knowledge monitoring has reversible noise,
which can be cancelled by directly feeding back the measurement signal. We show
how no-knowledge feedback control can be used to cancel decoherence in an
arbitrary quantum system coupled to a Markovian reservoir that is being
monitored. Since no-knowledge feedback does not depend on the system state or
Hamiltonian, such decoherence cancellation is guaranteed to be general, robust
and can operate in conjunction with any other quantum control protocol. As an
application, we show that no-knowledge feedback could be used to improve the
performance of dissipative quantum computers subjected to local loss.Comment: 6 pages + 2 pages supplemental material, 3 figure
Precision atomic gravimeter based on Bragg diffraction
We present a precision gravimeter based on coherent Bragg diffraction of
freely falling cold atoms. Traditionally, atomic gravimeters have used
stimulated Raman transitions to separate clouds in momentum space by driving
transitions between two internal atomic states. Bragg interferometers utilize
only a single internal state, and can therefore be less susceptible to
environmental perturbations. Here we show that atoms extracted from a
magneto-optical trap using an accelerating optical lattice are a suitable
source for a Bragg atom interferometer, allowing efficient beamsplitting and
subsequent separation of momentum states for detection. Despite the inherently
multi-state nature of atom diffraction, we are able to build a Mach-Zehnder
interferometer using Bragg scattering which achieves a sensitivity to the
gravitational acceleration of with an
integration time of 1000s. The device can also be converted to a gravity
gradiometer by a simple modification of the light pulse sequence.Comment: 13 pages, 11 figure
Tilted pillar array fabrication by the combination of proton beam writing and soft lithography for microfluidic cell capture Part 2: Image sequence analysis based evaluation and biological application
As a continuation of our previously published work, this paper presents a detailed evaluation of a microfabricated cell capture device utilizing a doubly tilted micropillar array. The device was fabricated using a novel hybrid technology based on the combination of proton beam writing and conventional lithography techniques. Tilted pillars offer unique flow characteristics and support enhanced fluidic interaction for improved immuno-affinity based cell capture. The performance of the microdevice was evaluated by an image sequence analysis based in-house developed single cell tracking system. Individual cell tracking allowed in-depth analysis of the cell-chip surface interaction mechanism from hydrodynamic point of view. Simulation results were validated by using the hybrid device and the optimized surface functionalization procedure. Finally, the cell capture capability of this new generation microdevice was demonstrated by efficiently arresting cells from a HT29 cellline suspension
12C/13C isotopic ratios in red-giant stars of the open cluster NGC 6791
Carbon isotope ratios, along with carbon and nitrogen abundances, are derived
in a sample of 11 red-giant members of one of the most metal-rich clusters in
the Milky Way, NGC 6791. The selected red-giants have a mean metallicity and
standard deviation of [Fe/H]=+0.39+-0.06 (Cunha et al. 2015). We used high
resolution H-band spectra obtained by the SDSS-IV Apache Point Observatory
Galactic Evolution Experiment (APOGEE). The advantage of using high-resolution
spectra in the H-band is that lines of CO are well represented and their line
profiles are sensitive to the variation of 12C/13C. Values of the 12C/13C ratio
were obtained from a spectrum synthesis analysis. The derived 12C/13C ratios
varied between 6.3 and 10.6 in NGC 6791, in agreement with the final isotopic
ratios from thermohaline-induced mixing models. The ratios derived here are
combined with those obtained for more metal poor red-giants from the literature
to examine the correlation between 12C/13C, mass, metallicity and evolutionary
status.Comment: Accepted for publication in MNRAS, 9 pages, 4 figures, 2 table
ABCG2 Is a Selectable Marker for Enhanced Multilineage Differentiation Potential in Periodontal Ligament Stem Cells.
Periodontal ligament stem cells (PDLSCs) provide an important source for tissue regeneration and may become especially useful in the formation of osteogenic seeds. PDLSCs can be cultured, expanded, and differentiated in vitro; thus, they may be applied in the long-term treatment of the defects in the dental regions. Here we studied numerous potential markers allowing the selection of human PDLSCs with a maximum differentiation potential. We followed the expression of the ATP-binding cassette subfamily G member 2 (ABCG2) membrane transporter protein and isolated ABCG2-expressing cells by using a monoclonal antibody, recognizing the transporter at the cell surface in intact cells. The expression of the ABCG2 protein, corresponding to the so-called side-population phenotype in various tissue-derived stem cells, was found to be a useful marker for the selection of PDLSCs with enhanced osteogenic, chondrogenic, and adipogenic differentiation. These findings may have important applications in achieving efficient dental tissue regeneration by using stem cells from extracted teeth
Aspergillus is monophyletic: Evidence from multiple gene phylogenies and extrolites profiles
Abstract Aspergillus is one of the economically most important fungal genera. Recently, the ICN adopted the single name nomenclature which has forced mycologists to choose one name for fungi (e.g. Aspergillus, Fusarium, Penicillium, etc.). Previously two proposals for the single name nomenclature in Aspergillus were presented: one attributes the name “Aspergillus” to clades comprising seven different teleomorphic names, by supporting the monophyly of this genus; the other proposes that Aspergillus is a non-monophyletic genus, by preserving the Aspergillus name only to species belonging to subgenus Circumdati and maintaining the sexual names in the other clades. The aim of our study was to test the monophyly of Aspergilli by two independent phylogenetic analyses using a multilocus phylogenetic approach. One test was run on the publicly available coding regions of six genes (RPB1, RPB2, Tsr1, Cct8, BenA, CaM), using 96 species of Penicillium, Aspergillus and related taxa. Bayesian (MrBayes) and Ultrafast Maximum Likelihood (IQ-Tree) and Rapid Maximum Likelihood (RaxML) analyses gave the same conclusion highly supporting the monophyly of Aspergillus. The other analyses were also performed by using publicly available data of the coding sequences of nine loci (18S rRNA, 5,8S rRNA, 28S rRNA (D1-D2), RPB1, RPB2, CaM, BenA, Tsr1, Cct8) of 204 different species. Both Bayesian (MrBayes) and Maximum Likelihood (RAxML) trees obtained by this second round of independent analyses strongly supported the monophyly of the genus Aspergillus. The stability test also confirmed the robustness of the results obtained. In conclusion, statistical analyses have rejected the hypothesis that the Aspergilli are non-monophyletic, and provided robust arguments that the genus is monophyletic and clearly separated from the monophyletic genus Penicillium. There is no phylogenetic evidence to split Aspergillus into several genera and the name Aspergillus can be used for all the species belonging to Aspergillus i.e. the clade comprising the subgenera Aspergillus, Circumdati, Fumigati, Nidulantes, section Cremei and certain species which were formerly part of the genera Phialosimplex and Polypaecilum. Section Cremei and the clade containing Polypaecilum and Phialosimplex are proposed as new subgenera of Aspergillus. The phylogenetic analysis also clearly shows that Aspergillus clavatoflavus and A. zonatus do not belong to the genus Aspergillus. Aspergillus clavatoflavus is therefore transferred to a new genus Aspergillago as Aspergillago clavatoflavus and A. zonatus was transferred to Penicilliopsis as P. zonata. The subgenera of Aspergillus share similar extrolite profiles indicating that the genus is one large genus from a chemotaxonomical point of view. Morphological and ecophysiological characteristics of the species also strongly indicate that Aspergillus is a polythetic class in phenotypic characters
Observation of a Modulational Instability in Bose-Einstein condensates
We observe the breakup dynamics of an elongated cloud of condensed Rb
atoms placed in an optical waveguide. The number of localized spatial
components observed in the breakup is compared with the number of solitons
predicted by a plane-wave stability analysis of the nonpolynomial nonlinear
Schr\"odinger equation, an effective one-dimensional approximation of the
Gross-Pitaevskii equation for cigar-shaped condensates. It is shown that the
numbers predicted from the fastest growing sidebands are consistent with the
experimental data, suggesting that modulational instability is the key
underlying physical mechanism driving the breakup.Comment: 6 pages, 5 figure
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