Bolometric and non-bolometric radio frequency detection in a metallic single-walled carbon nanotube

We characterize radio frequency detection in a high-quality metallic single-walled carbon nanotube. At a bath temperature of 77 K, only bolometric (thermal) detection is seen. At a bath temperature of 4.2 K and low bias current, the response is due instead to the electrical nonlinearity of the non-ohmic contacts. At higher bias currents, the contacts recover ohmic behavior and the observed response agrees well with the calculated bolometric responsivity. The bolometric response is expected to operate at terahertz frequencies, and we discuss some of the practical issues associated with developing high frequency detectors based on carbon nanotubes.Comment: 11 pages (double-spaced), 3 figure

Generation of graph-state streams

We propose a protocol to generate a stream of mobile qubits in a graph state through a single stationary parent qubit and discuss two types of its physical implementation, namely, the generation of photonic graph states through an atom-like qubit and those of flying atoms through a cavity-mode photonic qubit. The generated graph states fall into an important class that can hugely reduce the resource requirement of fault-tolerant linear optics quantum computation, which was previously known to be far from realistic. In regard to the flying atoms, we also propose a heralded generation scheme, which allows for high-fidelity graph states even under the photon loss.Comment: Accepted for publication at PRA Rapid Communication

THE EFFECTS OF HOUSING PRICES, WAGES, AND COMMUTING TIME ON JOINT RESIDENTIAL AND JOB LOCATION CHOICES

A utility maximizing framework is used to model how wages, housing prices, and commuting time affect joint decisions of where to live and where to work. The implied multinomial logit model yields plausible estimates of the role of economic variables on joint residence/job location choices.Labor and Human Capital,

Functional stability of HIV-1 envelope trimer affects accessibility to broadly neutralizing antibodies at its apex

ABSTRACT The trimeric envelope glycoprotein spike (Env) of HIV-1 is the target of vaccine development to elicit broadly neutralizing antibodies (bnAbs). Env trimer instability and heterogeneity in principle make subunit interfaces inconsistent targets for the immune response. Here, we investigate how functional stability of Env relates to neutralization sensitivity to V2 bnAbs and V3 crown antibodies that engage subunit interfaces upon binding to unliganded Env. Env heterogeneity was inferred when antibodies neutralized a mutant Env with a plateau of less than 100% neutralization. A statistically significant correlation was found between the stability of mutant Envs and the MPN of V2 bnAb, PG9, as well as an inverse correlation between stability of Env and neutralization by V3 crown antibody, 447-52D. A number of Env-stabilizing mutations and V2 bnAb-enhancing mutations were identified in Env, but they did not always overlap, indicating distinct requirements of functional stabilization versus antibody recognition. Blocking complex glycosylation of Env affected V2 bnAb recognition, as previously described, but also notably increased functional stability of Env. This study shows how instability and heterogeneity affect antibody sensitivity of HIV-1 Env, which is relevant to vaccine design involving its dynamic apex. IMPORTANCE The Env trimer is the only viral protein on the surface of HIV-1 and is the target of neutralizing antibodies that reduce viral infectivity. Quaternary epitopes at the apex of the spike are recognized by some of the most potent and broadly neutralizing antibodies to date. Being that their glycan-protein hybrid epitopes are at subunit interfaces, the resulting heterogeneity can lead to partial neutralization. Here, we screened for mutations in Env that allowed for complete neutralization by the bnAbs. We found that when mutations outside V2 increased V2 bnAb recognition, they often also increased Env stability-of-function and decreased binding by narrowly neutralizing antibodies to the V3 crown. Three mutations together increased neutralization by V2 bnAb and eliminated binding by V3 crown antibodies. These results may aid the design of immunogens that elicit antibodies to the trimer apex. </jats:p

Untargeted Lipidomic Analysis to Broadly Characterize the Effects of Pathogenic and Non-Pathogenic Staphylococci on Mammalian Lipids

Modification of the host lipidome via secreted enzymes is an integral, but often overlooked aspect of bacterial pathogenesis. In the current era of prevalent antibiotic resistance, knowledge regarding critical host pathogen lipid interactions has the potential for use in developing novel antibacterial agents. While most studies to date on this matter have focused on specific lipids, or select lipid classes, this provides an incomplete picture. Modern methods of untargeted lipidomics have the capacity to overcome these gaps in knowledge and provide a comprehensive understanding of the role of lipid metabolism in the pathogenesis of infections. In an attempt to determine the role of lipid modifying enzymes produced by staphylococci, we exposed bovine heart lipids, a standardized model for the mammalian lipidome, to spent medium from staphylococcal cultures, and analyzed lipid molecular changes by MS/MSALLshotgun lipidomics. We elucidate distinct effects of different staphylococcal isolates, including 4 clinical isolates of the pathogenic species Staphylococcus aureus, a clinical isolate of the normally commensal species S. epidermidis, and the non-pathogenic species S. carnosus. Two highly virulent strains of S. aureus had a more profound effect on mammalian lipids and modified more lipid classes than the other staphylococcal strains. Our studies demonstrate the utility of the applied untargeted lipidomics methodology to profile lipid changes induced by different bacterial secretomes. Finally, we demonstrate the promise of this lipidomics approach in assessing the specificity of bacterial enzymes for mammalian lipid classes. Our data suggests that there may be a correlation between the bacterial expression of lipid-modifying enzymes and virulence, and could facilitate the guided discovery of lipid pathways required for bacterial infections caused by S. aureus and thereby provide insights into the generation of novel antibacterial agents

Hyperbolic covering knots

Given any knot k, there exists a hyperbolic knot tilde k with arbitrarily large volume such that the knot group pi k is a quotient of pi tilde k by a map that sends meridian to meridian and longitude to longitude. The knot tilde k can be chosen to be ribbon concordant to k and also to have the same Alexander invariant as k.Comment: Published by Algebraic and Geometric Topology at http://www.maths.warwick.ac.uk/agt/AGTVol5/agt-5-57.abs.htm

Prediction of blood back spatter from a gunshot in bloodstain pattern analysis

A theoretical model for predicting and interpreting blood-spatter patterns resulting from a gunshot wound is proposed. The physical process generating a backward spatter of blood is linked to the Rayleigh-Taylor instability of blood accelerated toward the surrounding air, allowing the determination of the initial distribution of drop sizes and velocities. Then the motion of many drops in air is considered with governing equations accounting for gravity and air drag. Based on these equations, a numerical solution is obtained. It predicts the atomization process, the trajectories of the back-spatter drops of blood from the wound to the ground, the impact angle, and the impact Weber number on the ground, as well as the distribution and location of bloodstains and their shape and sizes. A parametric study is undertaken to predict patterns of backward blood spatter under realistic conditions corresponding to the experiments conducted in the present work. The results of the model are compared to the experimental data on back spatter generated by a gunshot impacting a blood-impregnated sponge