Phonon-induced dephasing of singlet-triplet superpositions in double quantum dots without spin-orbit coupling

We show that singlet-triplet superpositions of two-electron spin states in a double quantum dot undergo a phonon-induced pure dephasing which relies only on the tunnel coupling between the dots and on the Pauli exclusion principle. As such, this dephasing process is independent of spin-orbit coupling or hyperfine interactions. The physical mechanism behind the dephasing is elastic phonon scattering, which persists to much lower temperatures than real phonon-induced transitions. Quantitative calculations performed for a lateral GaAs/AlGaAs gate-defined double quantum dot yield micro-second dephasing times at sub-Kelvin temperatures, which is consistent with experimental observations.Comment: Extended versio

Sudden death of effective entanglement

Sudden death of entanglement is a well-known effect resulting from the finite volume of separable states. We study the case when the observer has a limited measurement capability and analyse the effective entanglement, i.e. entanglement minimized over the output data. We show that in the well defined system of two quantum dots monitored by single electron transistors, one may observe a sudden death of effective entanglement when real, physical entanglement is still alive. For certain measurement setups, this occurs even for initial states for which sudden death of physical entanglement is not possible at all. The principles of the analysis may be applied to other analogous scenarios, such as etimation of the parameters arising from quantum process tomography.Comment: final version, 5 pages, 3 figure

Reviewing ecopsychology research: exploring five databases and considering the future

This brief article aims to provide an overview of the current dispersal of the term ecopsychology within the academic literature. It summarizes the results found when entering the term ecopsychology into five academic databases. The numbers of hits are discussed and comparisons are made with other related terms. The results are further broken down to provide a snapshot of the type of material referred to in these searches. A more detailed inspection of the material referenced in journal articles is undertaken. Here, popular outlets and dates of publication are highlighted. A final search for articles that report original research data directly associated with ecopsychology is also reported. Possible reasons for the low yield and the implications of this are highlighted along with suggested pathways forward

14 Radioterapia kobiet z nieoperacyjnym rakiem błony śluzowej macicy-przegląd technik stosowanych w Wielkopolskim Centrum Onkologii

Radioterapia jest jedną z radykalnych metod terapeutycznych w leczeniu raka endometrium. Jako samodzielna, jest metodą z wyboru w leczeniu kobiet zdyskwalifikowanych od operacji z powodu zaawansowania choroby lub schorzeń współistniejących. Polega ona na połączeniu napromieniania z pól zewnętrznych z brachyterapią dojamową. Od samego początku techniki stosowanej brachyterapii zmieniały się w poszukiwaniu metody optymalnej.Pragniemy przedstawić porównanie trzech metod leczenia promieniami nieoperacyjnego raka endometrium stosowanych w naszym ośrodku.Materiał i metodaCharakterystyka grup porównawczych.Metoda leczenia: technika manchesterska, liczba chorych – 156, w tym 41 w I, 16 w II i 99 w III stopniu zaawansowania wg FIGO; metoda Heymana, liczba chorych – 116, w tym 43 w I, 6 w II, 67 w III stopniu zaawansowania wg FIGO; after-loading 2-sondy, liczba chorych 28, w tym w 20 w III stopniu zaawansowania wg FIGO.Techniki leczeniaTechnika manchesterska, polegająca na aplikacji do jamy macicy sondy Unijnej oraz 2 aplikatorów w sklepienia pochwy. Źródło promieniowania – Rad 226. Czas leczenia około 96–120 godzin w dwóch seriachleczenia.Metoda Heymana, jama macicy wypełniona w całej swej objętości tubkami z Radem 226, uzupełniona aplikacją Radu w sklepienia pochwy. Czas leczenia około 96–120 godzin w dwóch seriach leczenia.Metoda after-loading, 2 lekko zakrzywione sondy umieszczane w jamie macicy. Źródło promieniowania Cez 137, dawka 45–55 Gy/A, czas leczenia 30–50 godzin w dwóch seriach leczenia.Wszystkie chore poddane były napromienianiu z pól zewnętrznych, przy użyciu 9 MeV fotonów. Dawka 40–44 Gy na okolicę miednicy mniejszej podawana była w konwencjonalnej frakcjonacji 2 Gy dziennieprzez 5 dni w tygodniu.WynikiPrzeżycia 5-letnie kobiet leczonych sondą linijną. 5 lat przeżyło 35 ze 156 tj. 22,7% w stopniu zaawansowania I-16 z 41 tj. 39%, II-5z16tj. 31%, III-14 z 99 tj. 14,1%.Spośród kobiet leczonych metodą Heymana 5 lat przeżyło 67 ze116 tj. 57,7% w stopniu zaawansowania I-36 z 43 tj.83,7%, II-2 z 6 tj. 33,3%, III-29 z 67 tj. 29%.Dla kobiet leczonych metodą after-loading określono przeżycia 2-letnie ze względu na stosunkowo krótki okres stosowaniatej metody (od1994 roku). Przedstawiana leczona była w latach 1994–1996. Czas obserwacji min. 24 miesiące.2 lata przeżyły 23 z 28 tj. 82,1% chorych, w stopniu zaawansowania I tj. 100%, II tj. 100%, III 15 z 20 tj. 75% (trzy chore żyją z objawami choroby).Odczyny powikłania wczesna i późne:Sonda linijna: odbytnica-55, pęcherz moczowy-7 razem 39,7%.Metoda Heymana: odbytnica-60, pęcherz moczowy-6 razem 56,9%.After-loading: odbytnica-6, pęcherz moczowy-5 razem 39,2%.Wnioski1.Metoda brachyterapii z użyciem sondy Unijnej, aplikowanej do macicy, okazała się techniką o najmniejszej skuteczności terapeutycznej najniższy wskaźnik przeżyć 5-letnich.2.Najwięcej powikłań po leczeniu zaobserwowano przy stosowaniu techniki leczenia wg Heymana.3.Obecnie stosowana technika after-loading jest metodą dającą porównywalny odsetek wyleczeń do metody Heymana, bez zwiększania ryzyka powikłań popromiennych. Jest jednocześnie metodą o znacznie krótszym czasie leczenia oraz zmniejszający w sposób istotny narażenie personelu na promieniowanie

Structure of protease-cleaved escherichia coliα-2-macroglobulin reveals a putative mechanism of conformational activation for protease entrapment

Bacterial -2-macroglobulins have been suggested to function in defence as broad-spectrum inhibitors of host proteases that breach the outer membrane. Here, the X-ray structure of protease-cleaved Escherichia coli -2-macroglobulin is described, which reveals a putative mechanism of activation and conformational change essential for protease inhibition. In this competitive mechanism, protease cleavage of the bait-region domain results in the untethering of an intrinsically disordered region of this domain which disrupts native interdomain interactions that maintain E. coli -2-macroglobulin in the inactivated form. The resulting global conformational change results in entrapment of the protease and activation of the thioester bond that covalently links to the attacking protease. Owing to the similarity in structure and domain architecture of Escherichia coli -2-macroglobulin and human -2-macro­globulin, this protease-activation mechanism is likely to operate across the diverse members of this group

Structures and functions of carotenoids bound to reaction centers from purple photosynthetic bacteria

The photoprotective function of 15,15'-cis-carotenoids bound to the photosynthetic reaction centers (RCs) of purple bacteria has been studied using carotenoids reconstituted into carotenoidless RCs from Rhodobacter sphaeroides strain R26.1. The triplet-energy level of the carotenoid has been proposed to affect the quenching of the triplet state of special-pair bacteriochlorophyll (P). This was investigated using microsecond flash photolysis to detect the carotenoid triplets as a function of the number of conjugated double bonds, n. The carotenoid triplet signals were extracted by using singular-value decomposition (SVD) of the huge matrices data, and were confirmed for those having n = 8 to 11. This interpretation assumes that the reconstituted carotenoids occupy the same binding site in the RC. We have been able to confirm this assumption using X-ray crystallography to determine the structures of carotenoidless, wild-type carotenoid-containing, and 3,4-dihydro-spheroidene-reconstituted RCs. The X-ray study also emphasized the importance of the methoxy group of the carotenoids for binding to the RCs. Electroabsorption (Stark) spectroscopy was used to investigate the effect of the carotenoid on the electrostatic field around P. This electrostatic field changed by 10 % in the presence of the carotenoid

Resuscitation and quantification of stressed Escherichia coli K12 NCTC8797 in water samples

The aim of this study was to investigate the impact on numbers of using different media for the enumeration of Escherichia coli subjected to stress, and to evaluate the use of different resuscitation methods on bacterial numbers. E. coli was subjected to heat stress by exposure to 55 °C for 1 h or to light-induced oxidative stress by exposure to artificial light for up to 8 h in the presence of methylene blue. In both cases, the bacterial counts on selective media were below the limits of detection whereas on non-selective media colonies were still produced. After resuscitation in non-selective media, using a multi-well MPN resuscitation method or resuscitation on membrane filters, the bacterial counts on selective media matched those on non-selective media. Heat and light stress can affect the ability of E. coli to grow on selective media essential for the enumeration as indicator bacteria. A resuscitation method is essential for the recovery of these stressed bacteria in order to avoid underestimation of indicator bacteria numbers in water. There was no difference in resuscitation efficiency using the membrane filter and multi-well MPN methods. This study emphasises the need to use a resuscitation method if the numbers of indicator bacteria in water samples are not to be underestimated. False-negative results in the analysis of drinking water or natural bathing waters could have profound health effects

A Study on the Sudden Death of Entanglement

The dynamics of entanglement and the phenomenon of entanglement sudden death (ESD) \cite{yu} are discussed in bipartite systems, measured by Wootters Concurrence. Our calculation shows that ESD appears whenever the system is open or closed and is dependent on the initial condition. The relation of the evolution of entanglement and energy transfer between the system and its surroundings is also studied.Comment: Comments and criticism are welcome. Accepted by Phys. Lett.