Dynamics of correlations due to a phase noisy laser

We analyze the dynamics of various kinds of correlations present between two initially entangled independent qubits, each one subject to a local phase noisy laser. We give explicit expressions of the relevant quantifiers of correlations for the general case of single-qubit unital evolution, which includes the case of a phase noisy laser. Although the light field is treated as classical, we find that this model can describe revivals of quantum correlations. Two different dynamical regimes of decay of correlations occur, a Markovian one (exponential decay) and a non-Markovian one (oscillatory decay with revivals) depending on the values of system parameters. In particular, in the non-Markovian regime, quantum correlations quantified by quantum discord show an oscillatory decay faster than that of classical correlations. Moreover, there are time regions where nonzero discord is present while entanglement is zero.Comment: 7 pages, 3 figures, accepted for publication in Phys. Scripta, special issue for CEWQO 2011 proceeding

Does Graded Prognostic Assessment outperform Recursive Partitioning Analysis in patients with moderate prognosis brain metastases?

AIM: To compare the clinical utility of the Recursive Partitioning Analysis (RPA) and Graded Prognostic Assessment (GPA) in predicting outcomes for moderate prognosis patients with brain metastases. METHODS & MATERIALS: We reviewed 101 whole brain radiotherapy cases. RPA and GPA were calculated. Overall survival was compared. RESULTS: Sixty-eight patients had moderate prognosis. RPA patient characteristics for increased death hazard were ≤10 WBRT fractions or no surgery/radiosurgery. GPA patients had increased death risk with no surgery/radiosurgery or lower Karnofsky Performance Status. CONCLUSION: The indices have similar predicted survival. Patients scored by RPA with longer radiation schedules had longer survival; patients scored by GPA did not. This indicates GPA is more clinically useful, leaving less room for subjective treatment choices

Classical communication and non-classical fidelity of quantum teleportation

In quantum teleportation, the role of entanglement has been much discussed. It is known that entanglement is necessary for achieving non-classical teleportation fidelity. Here we focus on the amount of classical communication that is necessary to obtain non-classical fidelity in teleportation. We quantify the amount of classical communication that is sufficient for achieving non-classical fidelity for two independent 1-bit and single 2-bits noisy classical channels. It is shown that on average 0.208 bits of classical communication is sufficient to get non-classical fidelity. We also find the necessary amount of classical communication in case of isotropic transformation. Finally we study how the amount of sufficient classical communication increases with weakening of entanglement used in the teleportation process.Comment: Accepted in Quantum Info. Proces

Molecular basis for the folding of β-helical autotransporter passenger domains

Bacterial autotransporters comprise a C-terminal β-barrel domain, which must be correctly folded and inserted into the outer membrane to facilitate translocation of the N-terminal passenger domain to the cell exterior. Once at the surface, the passenger domains of most autotransporters are folded into an elongated β-helix. In a cellular context, key molecules catalyze the assembly of the autotransporter β-barrel domain. However, how the passenger domain folds into its functional form is poorly understood. Here we use mutational analysis on the autotransporter Pet to show that the β-hairpin structure of the fifth extracellular loop of the β-barrel domain has a crucial role for passenger domain folding into a β-helix. Bioinformatics and structural analyses, and mutagenesis of a homologous autotransporter, suggest that this function is conserved among autotransporter proteins with β-helical passenger domains. We propose that the autotransporter β-barrel domain is a folding vector that nucleates folding of the passenger domain

The entanglement of purification

We introduce a measure of both quantum as well as classical correlations in a quantum state, the entanglement of purification. We show that the (regularized) entanglement of purification is equal to the entanglement cost of creating a state $\rho$ asymptotically from maximally entangled states, with negligible communication. We prove that the classical mutual information and the quantum mutual information divided by two are lower bounds for the regularized entanglement of purification. We present numerical results of the entanglement of purification for Werner states in ${\cal H}_2 \otimes {\cal H}_2$.Comment: 12 pages RevTex, 1 figure, to appear in JMP special issue on quantum information. v3 contains additional references, motivation, and a small change in the figur

Freak Waves in Random Oceanic Sea States

Freak waves are very large, rare events in a random ocean wave train. Here we study the numerical generation of freak waves in a random sea state characterized by the JONSWAP power spectrum. We assume, to cubic order in nonlinearity, that the wave dynamics are governed by the nonlinear Schroedinger (NLS) equation. We identify two parameters in the power spectrum that control the nonlinear dynamics: the Phillips parameter $\alpha$ and the enhancement coefficient $\gamma$. We discuss how freak waves in a random sea state are more likely to occur for large values of $\alpha$ and $\gamma$. Our results are supported by extensive numerical simulations of the NLS equation with random initial conditions. Comparison with linear simulations are also reported.Comment: 7 pages, 6 figures, to be published in Phys. Rev. Let

Pre-existing virus-specific CD8+ T-cells provide protection against pneumovirus-induced disease in mice

Pneumoviruses such as pneumonia virus of mice (PVM), bovine respiratory syncytial virus (bRSV) or human (h)RSV are closely related pneumoviruses that cause severe respiratory disease in their respective hosts. It is well-known that T-cell responses are essential in pneumovirus clearance, but pneumovirus-specific T-cell responses also are important mediators of severe immunopathology. In this study we determined whether memory- or pre-existing, transferred virus-specific CD8 + T-cells provide protection against PVM-induced disease. We show that during infection with a sublethal dose of PVM, both natural killer (NK) cells and CD8 + T-cells expand relatively late. Induction of CD8 + T-cell memory against a single CD8 + T-cell epitope, by dendritic cell (DC)-peptide immunization, leads to partial protection against PVM challenge and prevents Th2 differentiation of PVM-induced CD4 T-cells. In addition, adoptively transferred PVM-specific CD8 + T-cells, covering the entire PVM-specific CD8 + T-cell repertoire, provide partial protection from PVM-induced disease. From these data we infer that antigen-specific memory CD8 + T-cells offer significant protection to PVM-induced disease. Thus, CD8 + T-cells, despite being a major cause of PVM-associated pathology during primary infection, may offer promising targets of a protective pneumovirus vaccine

Model Channel Ion Currents in NaCl - SPC/E Solution with Applied-Field Molecular Dynamics

Using periodic boundary conditions and a constant applied field, we have simulated current flow through an 8.125 Angstrom internal diameter, rigid, atomistic channel with polar walls in a rigid membrane using explicit ions and SPC/E water. Channel and bath currents were computed from ten 10-ns trajectories for each of 10 different conditions of concentration and applied voltage. An electric field was applied uniformly throughout the system to all mobile atoms. On average, the resultant net electric field falls primarily across the membrane channel, as expected for two conductive baths separated by a membrane capacitance. The channel is rarely occupied by more than one ion. Current-voltage relations are concentration-dependent and superlinear at high concentrations.Comment: Accepted for publication in Biophysical Journa

Classifying Chronic Lower Respiratory Disease Events in Epidemiologic Cohort Studies

Rationale: One in 12 adults has chronic obstructive pulmonary disease or asthma. Acute exacerbations of these chronic lower respiratory diseases (CLRDs) are a major cause of morbidity and mortality. Valid approaches to classifying cases and exacerbations in the general population are needed to facilitate prevention research