The crack kinking out of an interface

Kinking of a plane strain crack out of an interface between the two dissimilar isotropic elastic materials is analyzed. Analysis is focused on the initiation of kinking and thus the segment of the crack leaving the interface is imagined to be short compared to the segment in the interface. The analysis provides the stress intensity factors and energy release rate of the kinked cracks in terms of the corresponding quantities for the interfacial crack. The energy release rate is enhanced if the crack heads into the more compliant material and is diminished if the crack kinks into the stiff material

Exchange-based CNOT gates for singlet-triplet qubits with spin orbit interaction

We propose a scheme for implementing the CNOT gate over qubits encoded in a pair of electron spins in a double quantum dot. The scheme is based on exchange and spin orbit interactions and on local gradients in Zeeman fields. We find that the optimal device geometry for this implementation involves effective magnetic fields that are parallel to the symmetry axis of the spin orbit interaction. We show that the switching times for the CNOT gate can be as fast as a few nanoseconds for realistic parameter values in GaAs semiconductors. Guided by recent advances in surface codes, we also consider the perpendicular geometry. In this case, leakage errors due to spin orbit interaction occur but can be suppressed in strong magnetic fields

Graph Signal Processing: Overview, Challenges and Applications

Research in Graph Signal Processing (GSP) aims to develop tools for processing data defined on irregular graph domains. In this paper we first provide an overview of core ideas in GSP and their connection to conventional digital signal processing. We then summarize recent developments in developing basic GSP tools, including methods for sampling, filtering or graph learning. Next, we review progress in several application areas using GSP, including processing and analysis of sensor network data, biological data, and applications to image processing and machine learning. We finish by providing a brief historical perspective to highlight how concepts recently developed in GSP build on top of prior research in other areas.Comment: To appear, Proceedings of the IEE

The Nature of Superfluidity in Ultracold Fermi Gases Near Feshbach Resonances

We study the superfluid state of atomic Fermi gases using a BCS-BEC crossover theory. Our approach emphasizes non-condensed fermion pairs which strongly hybridize with their (Feshbach-induced) molecular boson counterparts. These pairs lead to pseudogap effects above $T_c$ and non-BCS characteristics below. We discuss how these effects influence the experimental signatures of superfluidity.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figures, submitted to PRA Rapid Communications; introduction rewritten, figure replace

Bones, Burials, and the Riddle of Truth: Reconstructing the Past Through What Has Been Left Behind

Mortuary archaeology is known to be the study of human remains and burials. The primary focus of this work has been to study all of the elements associated in burials to learn more about the burial practices and rituals in a group’s culture, however, there is much more potential in studying burial sites than just learning about a group’s burial rituals and practices. This thesis will demonstrate that it is indeed possible to make different inferences about the rest of people’s daily lives, and the truth, based from materials found in studying burials alone. For some groups without much existing and stable historical or cultural context, this could be the primary way of reconstructing their lives. For example, the Liburnian people from the Late Bronze Age did not leave behind any writings of their own so their historical record has relied on the writings of others. As a result, prior to excavations, not much could be said of who these people were and how they lived. Since excavations of burials began, much more has been learned about these people and archaeologists have been able to create a more accurate record of their lives. Before looking into how mortuary archaeology has helped Croatian people learn more about their Liburnian predecessors, this thesis will also revisit discourse on mortuary archaeology to emphasize how important it has been in helping shape methodology and theory within archaeology. Mortuary archaeology has evolved in such a way that it ultimately allows us to now ask better questions and make better inferences about the groups that we are studying and potentially allow us to help other groups with unreliable historical records learn more about their past as well

DESIGN, SYNTHESIS AND BIOLOGICAL EVALUATION OF NEW AGENTS TARGETING ESTROGEN RECEPTOR-ALPHA AND -BETA

The two known estrogen receptors, ERa and ERb, are the products of different genes on separate chromosomes. Of these, ERa has been the most extensively studied, and its expression in breast cancer determines the ER+ phenotype. ERb, on the other hand, was discovered only recently and its role in breast cancer pathology remains unclear. ERb inhibits E2-induced proliferation of T47D breast cancer cells in addition to decreasing the expression of cell cycle related genes. Clinical studies have shown a positive correlation between ERâ expression with disease-free survival and overall survival in breast cancer patients. ERb activation with a selective ERb agonist could antagonize the stimulating activity of the ERa in breast cancer cells, and such an ERb agonist could help overcome acquired resistance. Therefore, this work began a search for such agents. A one-pot hydrozirconation-transmetallation-aldimine addition sequence that leads to allylic amides, homoallylic amides and C-cyclopropylalkylamides was significantly accelerated by microwave technology and used for library preparation. The conventional methodology provided a first generation discovery library. A potentially antiestrogenic compound was identified in a transcriptional screening assay from this library, C-cyclopropylalkylamide 26a (O-ethyl-N-{2-[(1S*,2R*)-2-{(R*)[(diphenylphosphinoyl)amino](phenyl)methyl}cyclopropyl]-ethyl}-N-[(4-methylphenyl)sulfonyl]carbamate; a.k.a. CK1-183).Following up on these findings and with the goal to expand the scope of the synthesis methodology, a second generation library of allylic amides and C-cyclopropylalkylamides was prepared. The new library was screened in a fluorescence polarization based homogenous in vitro assay at ERa, and hits were further evaluated in cell-based assays. Three new C-cyclopropylalkylamides, 37c, 37a and 39c, were identified with improved potency over the lead agent 26a against 17b-estradiol (E2) stimulated MCF-7 cells. This second generation library was screened against both ERs. The screening results served to build an SAR model of allylic amides and C-cyclopropylalkylamides at ERa and ERb. A hit from the ERa screen, C-cyclopropylalkylamide 37d (N-(R*)-(((1R*,2R*)-2-butylcyclopropyl)-(4-(phenyl)phenyl)methyl)benzamide), contained a biphenyl core and served as a starting point for the design and synthesis of a third generation of C-cyclopropylalkylamide ER targeting agents. Biphenyl C-cyclopropylalkylamides represent novel structural scaffolds for design and synthesis of ERa and ERb targeting agents and a novel avenue for selective estrogen receptor modulator (SERM) development

Family-specific vs. Universal PCR primers for the study of mitochondrial DNA in plants

Mitochondrial genomes (mtDNAs or mitogenomes) of seed plants are characterized by a notoriously unstable organization on account of which available so-called universal or consensus primers may fail to fulfil their foreseen function-amplification of various mtDNA regions in a broad range of plant taxa. Thus, the primers developed for groups assumed to have similar organization of their mitogenomes, such as families, may facilitate a broader usage of more variable non-coding portions of these genomes in group members. Using in silico PCR method and six available complete mitogenomes of Fabaceae, it has been demonstrated that only three out of 36 published universal primer and three Medicago sativa-specific primer pairs that amplify various mtDNA regions are suitable for six representatives of the Fabaceae family upon minor modifications, and develop 21 Fabaceae-specific primer pairs for amplification of all 14 cis-splicing introns in genes of NADH subunits (nad genes) which represent the most commonly used noncoding mtDNA regions in various studies in plants. Using the same method and six available complete mitogenomes of representatives of related families Cucurbitaceae, Euphorbiaceae and Rosaceae and a model plant, Arabidopsis thaliana, it has further been demonstrated that applicability of newly developed primer pairs for amplification of nad introns in more or less related taxa was dependent not only on species evolutionary distances but also on their genome sizes. A reported set of 24 primer pairs is a valuable resource which may facilitate a broader usage of mtDNA variability in future studies at both intra- and inter-specific levels in Fabaceae, which is the third largest family of flowering plants rarely studied at the mtDNA level, and in other more or less related taxa

Hybrid Imaging in Head and Neck Sarcoidosis

To determine the prevalence of head and neck sarcoidosis (HNS) and evaluate the role of hybrid molecular imaging in HNS. Between 2010 and 2018, 222 patients with chronic sarcoidosis and presence of prolonged symptoms of active disease were referred to FDG PET/CT. Active disease was found in 169 patients, and they were all screened for the presence of HNS. All patients underwent MDCT and assessment of the serum ACE level. Follow-up FDG PET/CT examination was done 19.84 ± 8.98 months after the baseline. HNS was present in 38 out of 169 patients. FDG uptake was present in: cervical lymph nodes (38/38), submandibular glands (2/38), cerebrum (2/38), and bone (1/38). The majority of patients had more than two locations of disease. After FDG PET/CT examination, therapy was changed in most patients. Fourteen patients returned to follow-up FDG PET/CT examination in order to assess the therapy response. PET/CT revealed active disease in 12 patients and complete remission in two patients. Follow-up ACE levels had no correlation with follow-up SUVmax level (ρ = −0.18, p = 0.77). FDG PET/CT can be useful in the detection of HNS and in the evaluation of the therapy response. It may replace the use of non-purposive mounds of insufficiently informative laboratory and radiological procedures