ARXPS-studies ofcˆ-axis textured YBa2Cu3Ox-films

YBa2Cu3Ox sputter deposited cold on MgO grows in O2 annealing epitaxially to a transparent, superconducting film with Tc 80K. The unscraped surfaces of these films are smooth showing XPS lines changing with photoelectron take-off angle. This enhanced data base allows to separate the different chemical compounds (hydroxide, peroxide, carbonate, carboxyle, cuprate, graphite ...) and to obtain their spatial distribution. This yields the compounds, their amount and distribution making up the cinder growing with O2-anneal at internal and external surfaces. The cinder stoichiometry gives insights in the chemistry going on in O2 annealing. Below the cinder the signature ofcˆ-axis oriented YBa2Cu3Ox is identified, showing that a Ba-oxide layer forms the stable surface. This coats insulating CuO2 and Y-oxide layers yielding so an intrinsic dead layer

Quantum Communication with an Accelerated Partner

An unsolved problem in relativistic quantum information research is how to model efficient, directional quantum communication between localised parties in a fully quantum field theoretical framework. We propose a tractable approach to this problem based on solving the Heisenberg evolution of localized field observables. We illustrate our approach by analysing, and obtaining approximate analytical solutions to, the problem of communicating coherent states between an inertial sender, Alice and an accelerated receiver, Rob. We use these results to determine the efficiency with which continuous variable quantum key distribution could be carried out over such a communication channel.Comment: Additional explanatory text and typo in Eq.17 correcte

Religious and Secular Coping Strategies and Mortality Risk among Older Adults

Using data from the Wisconsin Longitudinal Study, the purpose of this study is twofold. First, the study identifies coping strategies used by older adults. Second, the study examines the impact of older adults’ chosen coping strategies on mortality reduction. The study focuses specifically on differences in the use of religious and secular coping strategies among this population. The findings suggest that although coping strategies differ between those who self-classify as religious and those who self-classify as nonreligious, for both groups social approaches to coping (e.g., attending church and volunteering) are more likely than individual approaches (e.g., praying or active/passive coping) to reduce the risk of mortality. The most efficacious coping strategies, however, are those matched to characteristics of the individual

Quantum simulation of thermodynamics in an integrated quantum photonic processor

One of the core questions of quantum physics is how to reconcile the unitary evolution of quantum states, which is information-preserving and time-reversible, with evolution following the second law of thermodynamics, which, in general, is neither. The resolution to this paradox is to recognize that global unitary evolution of a multi-partite quantum state causes the state of local subsystems to evolve towards maximum-entropy states. In this work, we experimentally demonstrate this effect in linear quantum optics by simultaneously showing the convergence of local quantum states to a generalized Gibbs ensemble constituting a maximum-entropy state under precisely controlled conditions, while introducing an efficient certification method to demonstrate that the state retains global purity. Our quantum states are manipulated by a programmable integrated quantum photonic processor, which simulates arbitrary non-interacting Hamiltonians, demonstrating the universality of this phenomenon. Our results show the potential of photonic devices for quantum simulations involving non-Gaussian states

Noiseless Linear Amplification and Distillation of Entanglement

The idea of signal amplification is ubiquitous in the control of physical systems, and the ultimate performance limit of amplifiers is set by quantum physics. Increasing the amplitude of an unknown quantum optical field, or more generally any harmonic oscillator state, must introduce noise. This linear amplification noise prevents the perfect copying of the quantum state, enforces quantum limits on communications and metrology, and is the physical mechanism that prevents the increase of entanglement via local operations. It is known that non-deterministic versions of ideal cloning and local entanglement increase (distillation) are allowed, suggesting the possibility of non-deterministic noiseless linear amplification. Here we introduce, and experimentally demonstrate, such a noiseless linear amplifier for continuous-variables states of the optical field, and use it to demonstrate entanglement distillation of field-mode entanglement. This simple but powerful circuit can form the basis of practical devices for enhancing quantum technologies. The idea of noiseless amplification unifies approaches to cloning and distillation, and will find applications in quantum metrology and communications.Comment: Submitted 10 June 200

Entanglement quantification from incomplete measurements: Applications using photon-number-resolving weak homodyne detectors

The certificate of success for a number of important quantum information processing protocols, such as entanglement distillation, is based on the difference in the entanglement content of the quantum states before and after the protocol. In such cases, effective bounds need to be placed on the entanglement of non-local states consistent with statistics obtained from local measurements. In this work, we study numerically the ability of a novel type of homodyne detector which combines phase sensitivity and photon-number resolution to set accurate bounds on the entanglement content of two-mode quadrature squeezed states without the need for full state tomography. We show that it is possible to set tight lower bounds on the entanglement of a family of two-mode degaussified states using only a few measurements. This presents a significant improvement over the resource requirements for the experimental demonstration of continuous-variable entanglement distillation, which traditionally relies on full quantum state tomography.Comment: 18 pages, 6 figure

Use cases, best practice and reporting standards for metabolomics in regulatory toxicology

Metabolomics is a widely used technology in academic research, yet its application to regulatory science has been limited. The most commonly cited barrier to its translation is lack of performance and reporting standards. The MEtabolomics standaRds Initiative in Toxicology (MERIT) project brings together international experts from multiple sectors to address this need. Here, we identify the most relevant applications for metabolomics in regulatory toxicology and develop best practice guidelines, performance and reporting standards for acquiring and analysing untargeted metabolomics and targeted metabolite data. We recommend that these guidelines are evaluated and implemented for several regulatory use cases

Patent Human Infections with the Whipworm, Trichuris trichiura, Are Not Associated with Alterations in the Faecal Microbiota

Background: The soil-transmitted helminth (STH), Trichuris trichiura colonises the human large intestine where it may modify inflammatory responses, an effect possibly mediated through alterations in the intestinal microbiota. We hypothesised that patent T. trichiura infections would be associated with altered faecal microbiota and that anthelmintic treatment would induce a microbiota resembling more closely that observed in uninfected individuals. Materials and Methods: School children in Ecuador were screened for STH infections and allocated to 3 groups: uninfected, T. trichiura only, and mixed infections with T. trichiura and Ascaris lumbricoides. A sample of uninfected children and those with T. trichiura infections only were given anthelmintic treatment. Bacterial community profiles in faecal samples were studied by 454 pyrosequencing of 16 S rRNA genes. Results: Microbiota analyses of faeces were done for 97 children: 30 were uninfected, 17 were infected with T. trichiura, and 50 with T. trichiura and A. lumbricoides. Post-treatment samples were analyzed for 14 children initially infected with T. trichiura alone and for 21 uninfected children. Treatment resulted in 100% cure of STH infections. Comparisons of the microbiota at different taxonomic levels showed no statistically significant differences in composition between uninfected children and those with T. trichiura infections. We observed a decreased proportional abundance of a few bacterial genera from the Clostridia class of Firmicutes and a reduced bacterial diversity among children with mixed infections compared to the other two groups, indicating a possible specific effect of A. lumbricoides infection. Anthelmintic treatment of children with T. trichiura did not alter faecal microbiota composition. Discussion: Our data indicate that patent human infections with T. trichiura may have no effect on faecal microbiota but that A. lumbricoides colonisation might be associated with a disturbed microbiota. Our results also catalogue the microbiota of rural Ecuadorians and indicate differences with individuals from more urban industrialised societies

P and Ca digestibility is increased in broiler diets supplemented with the high-phytase HIGHPHY wheat

Around 70% of total seed phosphorus is represented by phytate which must be hydrolysed to be bioavailable in non-ruminant diets. The limited endogenous phytase activity in non-ruminant animals make it common practice to add an exogenous phytase source to most poultry and pig feeds. The mature grain phytase activity (MGPA) of cereal seeds provides a route for the seeds themselves to contribute to phytate digestion, but MGPA varies considerably between species and most varieties in current use make negligible contributions. Currently, all phytases used for feed supplementation and transgenic improvement of MGPA are derived from microbial enzymes belonging to the group of histidine acid phosphatases (HAP). Cereals contain HAP phytases, but the bulk of MGPA can be attributed to phytases belonging to a completely different group of phosphatases, the purple acid phosphatases (PAPhy). In recent years, increased MGPAs were achieved in cisgenic barley holding extra copies of barley PAPhy and in the wheat HIGHPHY mutant, where MGPA was increased to ~6200 FTU/kg. In the present study, the effect of replacing 33%, 66% and 100% of a standard wheat with HIGHPHY wheat was compared with a control diet with and without 500 FTU of supplemental phytase. Diets were compared by evaluating broiler performance, ileal Ca and P digestibility and tibia development, using nine replicate pens of four birds per diet over 3 weeks from hatch. There were no differences between treatments in any tibia or bird performance parameters, indicating the control diet did not contain sufficiently low levels of phosphorus to distinguish effect of phytase addition. However, in a comparison of the two wheats, the ileal Ca and P digestibility coefficients for the 100% HIGHPHY wheat diets are 22.9% and 35.6% higher, respectively, than for the control diet, indicating the wheat PAPhy is functional in the broiler digestive tract. Furthermore, 33% HIGHPHY replacement of conventional wheat, significantly improved Ca and P digestibility over the diet-supplemented exogenous phytase, probably due to the higher phytase activity in the HIGHPHY diet (1804 v. 1150 FTU). Full replacement by HIGHPHY gave 14.6% and 22.8% higher ileal digestibility coefficients for Ca and P, respectively, than for feed supplemented with exogenous HAP phytase at 500 FTU. This indicates that in planta wheat PAPhys has promising potential for improving P and mineral digestibility in animal feed