NMR Simulation of an Eight-State Quantum System

The propagation of excitation along a one-dimensional chain of atoms is simulated by means of NMR. The physical system used as an analog quantum computer is a nucleus of 133-Cs (spin 7/2) in a liquid crystalline matrix. The Hamiltonian of migration is simulated by using a special 7-frequency pulse, and the dynamics is monitored by following the transfer of population from one of the 8 spin energy levels to the other.Comment: 10 pages, 3 figure

Path Integrals in Polar Field Variables in QFT

We show how to transform a $d$-dimensional Euclidean path integral in terms of two (Cartesian) fields to a path integral in terms of polar field variables. First we present a conjecture that states how this transformation should be done. Then we show that this conjecture is correct in the case of two toy models. Finally the conjecture will be proven for a general QFT model with two fields

Profiling the vendors of COVID‐19 related product on the Darknet: An observational study

Background In a time of unprecedented global change, the COVID-19 pandemic has led to a surge in demand of COVID-19 vaccines and related certifications. Mainly due to supply shortages, counterfeit vaccines, fake documentation, and alleged cures to illegal portfolios, have been offered on darkweb marketplaces (DWMs) with important public health consequences. We aimed to profile key DWMs and vendors by presenting some in-depth case studies. Methods A non-systematic search for COVID-19 products was performed across 118 DWMs. Levels of activity, credibility, content, COVID-19 product listings, privacy protocols were among the features retrieved. Open web fora and other open web sources were also considered for further analysis of both functional and non functional DWMs. Collected data refers to the period between January 2020 and October 2021. Results A total of 42 relevant listings sold by 24 vendors across eight DWMs were identified. Four of these markets were active and well-established at the time of the study with good levels of credibility. COVID-19 products were listed alongside other marketplace content. Vendors had a trusted profile, communicated in English language and accepted payments in cryptocurrencies (Monero or Bitcoin). Their geographical location included the USA, Asia and Europe. While COVID-19 related goods were mostly available for regional supply, other listings were also shipped worldwide. Interpretation Findings emerging from this study rise important questions about the health safety of certain DWMs activities and encourage the development of targeted interventions to overcome such new and rapidly expanding public health threats. Funding CovSaf, National Research centre on Privacy, Harm Reduction and Adversarial Influence Online (REPHRAIN), Commonwealth Fund

Lateral phase separation in mixtures of lipids and cholesterol

In an effort to understand "rafts" in biological membranes, we propose phenomenological models for saturated and unsaturated lipid mixtures, and lipid-cholesterol mixtures. We consider simple couplings between the local composition and internal membrane structure, and their influence on transitions between liquid and gel membrane phases. Assuming that the gel transition temperature of the saturated lipid is shifted by the presence of the unsaturated lipid, and that cholesterol acts as an external field on the chain melting transition, a variety of phase diagrams are obtained. The phase diagrams for binary mixtures of saturated/unsaturated lipids and lipid/cholesterol are in semi-quantitative agreement with the experiments. Our results also apply to regions in the ternary phase diagram of lipid/lipid/cholesterol systems

Close proximity detection interference with acoustic telemetry: The importance of considering tag power output in low ambient noise environments

When employing acoustic telemetry to study aquatic species, understanding the functional dynamics of the monitoring system is essential for effective study design, data interpretation, and analysis. Typically, researchers are concerned with maximum effective detection range and consequently tend to employ the largest most powerful tags the study species can carry without considerable energetic burden. In ideal acoustic conditions of low ambient noise environments, low attenuation, and reflective structure, higher powered tags can be detected at larger distances from the receiver, but they can also be subject to the phenomenon ‘Close Proximity Detection Interference’ (CPDI). This occurs when reflective barriers, such as a calm water surface and/or hard substrate, result in strong transmission echoes that interfere with the transmission sequence. As a result, transmissions in close proximity to the receiver are not effectively decoded and logged

Attention and automation: New perspectives on mental underload and performance

There is considerable evidence in the ergonomics literature that automation can significantly reduce operator mental workload. Furthermore, reducing mental workload is not necessarily a good thing, particularly in cases where the level is already manageable. This raises the issue of mental underload, which can be at least as detrimental to performance as overload. However, although it is widely recognized that mental underload is detrimental to performance, there are very few attempts to explain why this may be the case. It is argued in this paper that, until the need for a human operator is completely eliminated, automation has psychological implications relevant in both theoretical and applied domains. The present paper reviews theories of attention, as well as the literature on mental workload and automation, to synthesize a new explanation for the effects of mental underload on performance. Malleable attentional resources theory proposes that attentional capacity shrinks to accommodate reductions in mental workload, and that this shrinkage is responsible for the underload effect. The theory is discussed with respect to the applied implications for ergonomics research

Spatial Light Modulators for the Manipulation of Individual Atoms

We propose a novel dipole trapping scheme using spatial light modulators (SLM) for the manipulation of individual atoms. The scheme uses a high numerical aperture microscope to map the intensity distribution of a SLM onto a cloud of cold atoms. The regions of high intensity act as optical dipole force traps. With a SLM fast enough to modify the trapping potential in real time, this technique is well suited for the controlled addressing and manipulation of arbitrarily selected atoms.Comment: 9 pages, 5 figure

Imaging the disk around the luminous young star LkHalpha 101 with infrared interferometry

The Herbig Ae/Be star LkHalpha 101 has been imaged at high angular resolution at a number of wavelengths in the near-infrared (from 1 to 3 microns) using the Keck 1 Telescope, and also observed in the mid-infrared (11.15 microns) using the U.C. Berkeley Infrared Spatial Interferometer (ISI). The resolved circular disk with a central hole or cavity reported in Tuthill et al. (2001) is confirmed. This is consistent with an almost face-on view (inclination < 35 deg) onto a luminous pre- or early-main sequence object surrounded by a massive circumstellar disk. With a multiple-epoch study spanning almost four years, relative motion of the binary companion has been detected, together with evidence for changes in the brightness distribution of the central disk/star. The resolution of the LkHalpha 101 disk by ISI mid-infrared interferometry constitutes the first such measurement of a young stellar object in this wavelength region. The angular size was found to increase only slowly from 1.6 to 11.15 microns, inconsistent with standard power-law temperature profiles usually encountered in the literature, supporting instead models with a hot inner cavity and relatively rapid transition to a cool or tenuous outer disk. The radius of the dust-free inner cavity is consistent with a model of sublimation of dust in equilibrium with the stellar radiation field. Measurements from interferometry have been combined with published photometry enabling an investigation of the energetics and fundamental properties of this prototypical system.Comment: Appearing in Astrophysical Journal. 24 pages; 8 figure

Timing the multiple cell death pathways initiated by Rose Bengal acetate photodynamic therapy

Rose Bengal acetate photodynamic therapy (RBAc–PDT) induced multiple cell death pathways in HeLa cells through ROS and ER stress. Indeed, apoptosis was the first preferred mechanism of death, and it was triggered by at least four different pathways, whose independent temporal activation ensures cell killing when one or several of the pathways are inactivated. Apoptosis occurred as early as 1 h after PDT through activation of intrinsic pathways, followed by activation of extrinsic, caspase-12-dependent and caspase-independent pathways, and by autophagy. The onset of the different apoptotic pathways and autophagy, that in our system had a pro-death role, was timed by determining the levels of caspases 9, 8, 3 and 12; Bcl-2 family; Hsp70; LC3B; GRP78 and phospho-eIF2α proteins. Interestingly, inhibition of one pathway, that is, caspase-9 (Z-LEHD-FMK), caspase-8 (Z-IETD-FMK), pan-caspases (Z-VAD-FMK), autophagy (3-MA) and necrosis (Nec-1), did not impair the activation of the others, suggesting that the independent onset of the different apoptotic pathways and autophagy did not occur in a subordinated manner. Altogether, our data indicate RBAc as a powerful photosensitiser that induces a prolonged cytotoxicity and time-related cell death onset by signals originating from or converging on almost all intracellular organelles. The fact that cancer cells can die through different mechanisms is a relevant clue in the choice and design of anticancer PDT