Probing dynamical symmetry breaking using quantum-entangled photons

We present an input/output analysis of photon-correlation experiments whereby a quantum mechanically entangled bi-photon state interacts with a material sample placed in one arm of a Hong-Ou-Mandel (HOM) apparatus. We show that the output signal contains detailed information about subsequent entanglement with the microscopic quantum states in the sample. In particular, we apply the method to an ensemble of emitters interacting with a common photon mode within the open-system Dicke Model. Our results indicate considerable dynamical information concerning spontaneous symmetry breaking can be revealed with such an experimental system

Use of extended realities in cardiology

Recent miniaturization of electronic components and advances in image processing software have facilitated the entry of extended reality technology into clinical practice. In the last several years, the number of applications in cardiology has multiplied, with many promising to become standard of care. We review many of these applications in the areas of patient and physician education, cardiac rehabilitation, pre-procedural planning and intraprocedural use. The rapid integration of these approaches into the many facets of cardiology suggests that they will one day become an every-day part of physician practice

Modeling K,ATP-Dependent Excitability in Pancreatic Islets

AbstractIn pancreatic β-cells, K,ATP channels respond to changes in glucose to regulate cell excitability and insulin release. Confirming a high sensitivity of electrical activity to K,ATP activity, mutations that cause gain of K,ATP function cause neonatal diabetes. Our aim was to quantitatively assess the contribution of K,ATP current to the regulation of glucose-dependent bursting by reproducing experimentally observed changes in excitability when K,ATP conductance is altered by genetic manipulation. A recent detailed computational model of single cell pancreatic β-cell excitability reproduces the β-cell response to varying glucose concentrations. However, initial simulations showed that the model underrepresents the significance of K,ATP activity and was unable to reproduce K,ATP conductance-dependent changes in excitability. By altering the ATP and glucose dependence of the L-type Ca2+ channel and the Na-K ATPase to better fit experiment, appropriate dependence of excitability on K,ATP conductance was reproduced. Because experiments were conducted in islets, which contain cell-to-cell variability, we extended the model from a single cell to a three-dimensional model (10×10×10 cell) islet with 1000 cells. For each cell, the conductance of the major currents was allowed to vary as was the gap junction conductance between cells. This showed that single cell glucose-dependent behavior was then highly variable, but was uniform in coupled islets. The study highlights the importance of parameterization of detailed models of β-cell excitability and suggests future experiments that will lead to improved characterization of β-cell excitability and the control of insulin secretion

A molecularly detailed Na V 1.5 model reveals a new Class I antiarrhythmic target

Antiarrhythmic treatment strategies remain suboptimal due to our inability to predict how drug interactions with ion channels will affect the ability of the tissues to initiate and sustain an arrhythmia. We built a multiscale molecular model of the N

Early Middle Pleistocene sediments at Sidestrand, northeast Norfolk, yield the most extensive preglacial cold stage beetle assemblage from Britain

Fluvial sediments (Cromer Forest-bed Formation) at Sidestrand, northeast Norfolk, have yielded the most extensive preglacial early Middle Pleistocene cold (arctic) stage beetle assemblage known from Britain. The assemblage is composed of 59 taxa indicating severely cold and continental climatic conditions. Mutual Climatic Range reconstructions suggest that the mean temperature of the warmest month (July) was between 10 °C and 13 °C and the mean temperature of the coldest months (January and February) between −17 °C and −10 °C, although the actual palaeotemperatures were probably towards the lower end of these ranges. Associated pollen and macroflora remains were poorly represented but all are known from other cold stage contexts. Excavations reveal that this freshwater arctic assemblage occurs within units between two important stratigraphic marker horizons, the Sidestrand Hall Member of the Cromer Forest-bed Formation and the first lowland glacigenic deposit (Happisburgh Till Member) in eastern England, although the ages of both remain equivocal. Recent amino-acid chronologies of molluscan faunas from the Sidestrand Hall Member indicate a MIS 13 age, with by inference a MIS 12 age for the overlying arctic units with cold beetle fauna and for the Happisburgh Till Member. However, the arctic units are separated from the two stratigraphic marker horizons by shallow marine deposits (Wroxham Crag Formation) demonstrating at least two intervening phases of marine transgression and a cold climate marine regression. The climatic significance of these marine transgressions and their chronostratigraphic implications are currently uncertain

Molecular game theory for a toxin-dominant food chain model

Animal toxins that are used to subdue prey and deter predators act as the key drivers in natural food chains and ecosystems. However, the predators of venomous animals may exploit feeding adaptation strategies to overcome toxins their prey produce. Much remains unknown about the genetic and molecular game process in the toxin-dominant food chain model. Here, we show an evolutionary strategy in different trophic levels of scorpion-eating amphibians, scorpions and insects, representing each predation relationship in habitats dominated by the paralytic toxins of scorpions. For scorpions preying on insects, we found that the scorpion α-toxins irreversibly activate the skeletal muscle sodium channel of their prey (insect, BgN