Stabilization of uranium(VI) at low pH by fungal metabolites : applications in environmental biotechnology

Uranium contamination of soils and water is a worldwide problem due to geology or anthropogenic release such as mining, or use of inorganic fertilizers. In situ remediation of low and moderately contaminated sites is a complicated procedure due to the complex chemistry of uranium. This study demonstrates that at pH 3.5, a fungal strain isolated from unprocessed uranium bearing shale creates hydrochemical conditions that immobilize 97% of a total of 10 mg L-1 dissolved uranium in a 0.20 μm pore system. The redistribution occurred within 10 minutes and remained for five weeks and just 12% of the inventory was retrieved in the biomass. Size exclusion chromatography of the dissolved phase identified organic substances in the range of more than 60 kD down to 100 D as a response to time of incubation. Geochemical modeling indicates formation of uranium-organic complexes where ligand size, coordination chemistry and their tendency to agglomerate determine the redistribution

An updated investigation of the multidimensional structure of language lateralization in left- and right-handed adults: a test-retest functional transcranial Doppler sonography study with six language tasks

A previous study we reported in this journal suggested that left and right-handers may differ in their patterns of lateralization for different language tasks (Woodhead et al. 2019 R. Soc. Open Sci.6, 181801. (doi:10.1098/rsos.181801)). However, it had too few left-handers (N = 7) to reach firm conclusions. For this update paper, further participants were added to the sample to create separate groups of left- (N = 31) and right-handers (N = 43). Two hypotheses were tested: (1) that lateralization would be weaker at the group level in left-than right-handers; and (2) that left-handers would show weaker covariance in lateralization between tasks, supporting a two-factor model. All participants performed the same protocol as in our previous paper: lateralization was measured using functional transcranial Doppler sonography during six different language tasks, on two separate testing sessions. The results supported hypothesis 1, with significant differences in laterality between groups for four out of six tasks. For hypothesis 2, structural equation modelling showed that there was stronger evidence for a two-factor model in left than right-handers; furthermore, examination of the factor loadings suggested that the pattern of laterality across tasks may also differ between handedness groups. These results expand on what is known about the differences in laterality between left- and right-handers

Conical Indentation of a Viscoelastic Sphere

Instrumented indentation is commonly used for determining mechanical properties of a range of materials, including viscoelastic materials. However, most—if not all—studies are limited to a flat substrate being indented by various shaped indenters (e.g., conical or spherical). This work investigates the possibility of extending instrumented indentation to nonflat viscoelastic substrates. In particular, conical indentation of a sphere is investigated where a semi-analytical approach based on “the method of functional equations” has been developed to obtain the force–displacement relationship. To verify the accuracy of the proposed methodology selected numerical experiments have been performed and good agreement was obtained. Since it takes significantly less time to obtain force–displacement relationships using the proposed method compared to conducting full finite element simulations, the proposed method is an efficient substitute of the finite element method in determining material properties of viscoelatic spherical particles using indentation testing

"Assisted cloning'' and "orthogonal-complementing" of an unknown state

We propose a protocol where one can exploit dual quantum and classical channels to achieve perfect ``cloning'' and ``orthogonal-complementing'' of an unknown state with a minimal assistance from a state preparer (without revealing what the input state is). The first stage of the protocol requires usual teleportation and in the second stage, the preparer disentangles the left-over entangled states by a single particle measurement process and communicates a number of classical bits (1-cbit per copy) to different parties so that perfect copies and complement copies are produced. We discuss our protocol for producing two copies and three copies (and complement copies) using two and four particle entangled state and suggest how to generalise this for N copies and complement copies using multiparticle entangled state.Comment: 7 pages, Latex, no figures, submitted to Phys. Rev. A. 1999(to be accepted

Experimental investigation of a coherent quantum measurement of the degree of polarization of a single mode light beam

A novel method for the direct measurement of the degree of polarization is described. It is one of the first practical implementations of a coherent quantum measurement, the projection on the singlet state. Our first results demonstrate the successful operation of the method. However, due to the nonlinear crystals used presently, its application is limited to spectral widths larger than ~8nm.Comment: 23 pages, 9 figures, submitted to Journal of Modern Optic

Can we always get the entanglement entropy from the Kadanoff-Baym equations? The case of the T-matrix approximation

We study the time-dependent transmission of entanglement entropy through an out-of-equilibrium model interacting device in a quantum transport set-up. The dynamics is performed via the Kadanoff-Baym equations within many-body perturbation theory. The double occupancy $< \hat{n}_{R \uparrow} \hat{n}_{R \downarrow} >$, needed to determine the entanglement entropy, is obtained from the equations of motion of the single-particle Green's function. A remarkable result of our calculations is that $< \hat{n}_{R \uparrow} \hat{n}_{R \downarrow} >$ can become negative, thus not permitting to evaluate the entanglement entropy. This is a shortcoming of approximate, and yet conserving, many-body self-energies. Among the tested perturbation schemes, the $T$-matrix approximation stands out for two reasons: it compares well to exact results in the low density regime and it always provides a non-negative $< \hat{n}_{R \uparrow} \hat{n}_{R \downarrow} >$. For the second part of this statement, we give an analytical proof. Finally, the transmission of entanglement across the device is diminished by interactions but can be amplified by a current flowing through the system.Comment: 6 pages, 6 figure

Human papillomavirus-associated oropharyngeal cancer: a new clinical entity

The incidence of oropharyngeal cancers is rising worldwide in both nonsmokers and nondrinkers. Epidemiology studies suggest a strong association between human papillomavirus (HPV) 16 infection, changing sexual behavior and cancer development. Despite initial presentation with locally advanced disease and poorly differentiated histology, HPV-associated oropharyngeal carcinoma is associated with a good prognosis because its response to chemotherapy and radiation. Clinicians should be aware of the risk of oropharyngeal cancer in young people to avoid unnecessary delay in diagnosis and treatment. A history of oral sex should be elicited in young patients with enlarged neck nodes and/or tonsillar masse

Exploring the fatty acid amide hydrolase and cyclooxygenase inhibitory properties of novel amide derivatives of ibuprofen

Inhibition of fatty acid amide hydrolase (FAAH) reduces the gastrointestinal damage produced by non-steroidal anti-inflammatory agents such as sulindac and indomethacin in experimental animals, suggesting that a dual-action FAAH-cyclooxygenase (COX) inhibitor could have useful therapeutic properties. Here, we have investigated 12 novel amide analogues of ibuprofen as potential dual-action FAAH/COX inhibitors. N-(3-Bromopyridin-2-yl)−2-(4-isobutylphenyl)propanamide (Ibu-AM68) was found to inhibit the hydrolysis of [3H]anandamide by rat brain homogenates by a reversible, mixed-type mechanism of inhibition with a Ki value of 0.26 µM and an α value of 4.9. At a concentration of 10 µM, the compound did not inhibit the cyclooxygenation of arachidonic acid by either ovine COX-1 or human recombinant COX-2. However, this concentration of Ibu-AM68 greatly reduced the ability of the COX-2 to catalyse the cyclooxygenation of the endocannabinoid 2-arachidonoylglycerol. It is concluded that Ibu-AM68 is a dual-acting FAAH/substrate-selective COX inhibitor

Polarization Entangled W State using Parametric Down-Conversion

An experimental scheme for preparing a polarization entangled W states from four photons emitted by parametric down-conversion is proposed. We consider two different configurations and a method of improving the yield by using single photon sources. In the proposed scheme, one uses only linear optical elements and photon detectors, so that this scheme is feasible by current technologies.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figure