1,295 research outputs found

    Purification of Single-photon Entanglement

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    Single-photon entanglement is a simple form of entanglement that exists between two spatial modes sharing a single photon. Despite its elementary form, it provides a resource as useful as polarization-entangled photons and it can be used for quantum teleportation and entanglement swapping operations. Here, we report the first experiment where single-photon entanglement is purified with a simple linear-optics based protocol. Besides its conceptual interest, this result might find applications in long distance quantum communication based on quantum repeaters.Comment: Main article: 5 pages, 4 figure

    X-Ray Generation from Metal Targets Coated with Wavelength-Scale Spheres

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    X-ray yield measurements from targets coated with wavelength-scale spheres are compared with measurements from polished targets. Evidence for a hotter resonant electron temperature due to field enhancements from Mie resonances in the spheres is investigated

    Electroweak Gauge-Boson Production at Small q_T: Infrared Safety from the Collinear Anomaly

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    Using methods from effective field theory, we develop a novel, systematic framework for the calculation of the cross sections for electroweak gauge-boson production at small and very small transverse momentum q_T, in which large logarithms of the scale ratio M_V/q_T are resummed to all orders. These cross sections receive logarithmically enhanced corrections from two sources: the running of the hard matching coefficient and the collinear factorization anomaly. The anomaly leads to the dynamical generation of a non-perturbative scale q_* ~ M_V e^{-const/\alpha_s(M_V)}, which protects the processes from receiving large long-distance hadronic contributions. Expanding the cross sections in either \alpha_s or q_T generates strongly divergent series, which must be resummed. As a by-product, we obtain an explicit non-perturbative expression for the intercept of the cross sections at q_T=0, including the normalization and first-order \alpha_s(q_*) correction. We perform a detailed numerical comparison of our predictions with the available data on the transverse-momentum distribution in Z-boson production at the Tevatron and LHC.Comment: 34 pages, 9 figure

    Bluefin Tuna Larvae in Oligotrophic Ocean Foodwebs, Investigations of Nutrients to Zooplankton: Overview of the BLOOFINZ-Gulf of Mexico program

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    Western Atlantic bluefin tuna (ABT) undertake long-distance migrations from rich feeding grounds in the North Atlantic to spawn in oligotrophic waters of the Gulf of Mexico (GoM). Stock recruitment is strongly affected by interannual variability in the physical features associated with ABT larvae, but the nutrient sources and food-web structure of preferred habitat, the edges of anticyclonic loop eddies, are unknown. Here, we describe the goals, physical context, design and major findings of an end-to-end process study conducted during peak ABT spawning in May 2017 and 2018. Mesoscale features in the oceanic GoM were surveyed for larvae, and five multi-day Lagrangian experiments measured hydrography and nutrients; plankton biomass and composition from bacteria to zooplankton and fish larvae; phytoplankton nutrient uptake, productivity and taxon-specific growth rates; micro- and mesozooplankton grazing; particle export; and ABT larval feeding and growth rates. We provide a general introduction to the BLOOFINZ-GoM project (Bluefin tuna Larvae in Oligotrophic Ocean Foodwebs, Investigation of Nitrogen to Zooplankton) and highlight the finding, based on backtracking of experimental waters to their positions weeks earlier, that lateral transport from the continental slope region may be more of a key determinant of available habitat utilized by larvae than eddy edges per se.Postprint1,74

    The precarious supply of physical therapists across Canada: exploring national trends in health human resources (1991 to 2005)

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    <p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Health Human Resource (HHR) ratios are one measure of workforce supply, and are often expressed as a ratio in the number of health professionals to a sub-set of the population. In this study, we explore national trends in HHR among physical therapists (PTs) across Canada.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>National population data were combined with provincial databases of registered physical therapists in order to estimate the HHR ratio in 2005, and to establish trends between 1991 and 2005.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The national HHR ratio was 4.3 PTs per 10,000 population in 1991, which increased to 5.0 by 2000. In 2005, the HHR ratios varied widely across jurisdictions; however, we estimate that the national average dropped to 4.8 PTs per 10,000. Although the trend in HHR between 1991 and 2005 suggests positive growth of 11.6%, we have found negative growth of 4.0% in the latter 5-years of this study period.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Demand for rehabilitation services is projected to escalate in the next decade. Identifying benchmarks or targets regarding the optimal number of PTs, along with other health professionals working within inter professional teams, is necessary to establish a stable supply of health providers to meet the emerging rehabilitation and mobility needs of an aging and increasingly complex Canadian population.</p

    Beryllium-specific CD4+ T cells induced by chemokine neoantigens perpetuate inflammation

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    Discovering dominant epitopes for T cells, particularly CD4+ T cells, in human immune-mediated diseases remains a significant challenge. Here, we used bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) cells from HLA-DP2-expressing patients with chronic beryllium disease (CBD), a debilitating granulomatous lung disorder characterized by accumulations of beryllium (Be)-specific CD4+ T cells in the lung. We discovered lung resident CD4+ T cells that expressed a disease-specific public CDR3β T cell receptor motif and were specific to Be-modified self-peptides derived from C-C motif ligands 4 (CCL4) and 3 (CCL3). HLA-DP2-CCL/Be tetramer staining confirmed that these chemokine-derived peptides represented major antigenic targets in CBD. Furthermore, Be induced CCL3 and 4 secretion in the lungs of mice and humans. In a murine model of CBD, the addition of LPS to Be oxide exposure enhanced CCL4 and CCL3 secretion in the lung and significantly increased the number and percentage of CD4+ T cells specific for the HLA-DP2-CCL/Be epitope. Thus, we demonstrate a direct link between Be-induced innate production of chemokines and the development of a robust adaptive immune response to those same chemokines presented as Be-modified self-peptides, creating a vicious cycle of innate and adaptive immune activation

    Beryllium-specific CD4\u3csup\u3e+\u3c/sup\u3e T cells induced by chemokine neoantigens perpetuate inflammation

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    Discovering dominant epitopes for T cells, particularly CD4+ T cells, in human immune-mediated diseases remains a significant challenge. Here, we used bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) cells from HLA-DP2–expressing patients with chronic beryllium disease (CBD), a debilitating granulomatous lung disorder characterized by accumulations of beryllium-specific (Be-specific) CD4+ T cells in the lung. We discovered lung-resident CD4+ T cells that expressed a disease-specific public CDR3β T cell receptor motif and were specific to Be-modified self-peptides derived from C-C motif ligand 4 (CCL4) and CCL3. HLADP2–CCL/Be tetramer staining confirmed that these chemokine-derived peptides represented major antigenic targets in CBD. Furthermore, Be induced CCL3 and CCL4 secretion in the lungs of mice and humans. In a murine model of CBD, the addition of LPS to Be oxide exposure enhanced CCL4 and CCL3 secretion in the lung and significantly increased the number and percentage of CD4+ T cells specific for the HLA-DP2–CCL/Be epitope. Thus, we demonstrate a direct link between Be-induced innate production of chemokines and the development of a robust adaptive immune response to those same chemokines presented as Be-modified self-peptides, creating a cycle of innate and adaptive immune activation

    Tomato: a crop species amenable to improvement by cellular and molecular methods

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    Tomato is a crop plant with a relatively small DNA content per haploid genome and a well developed genetics. Plant regeneration from explants and protoplasts is feasable which led to the development of efficient transformation procedures. In view of the current data, the isolation of useful mutants at the cellular level probably will be of limited value in the genetic improvement of tomato. Protoplast fusion may lead to novel combinations of organelle and nuclear DNA (cybrids), whereas this technique also provides a means of introducing genetic information from alien species into tomato. Important developments have come from molecular approaches. Following the construction of an RFLP map, these RFLP markers can be used in tomato to tag quantitative traits bred in from related species. Both RFLP's and transposons are in the process of being used to clone desired genes for which no gene products are known. Cloned genes can be introduced and potentially improve specific properties of tomato especially those controlled by single genes. Recent results suggest that, in principle, phenotypic mutants can be created for cloned and characterized genes and will prove their value in further improving the cultivated tomato.

    From early markers to neuro-developmental mechanisms of autism

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    A fast growing field, the study of infants at risk because of having an older sibling with autism (i.e. infant sibs) aims to identify the earliest signs of this disorder, which would allow for earlier diagnosis and intervention. More importantly, we argue, these studies offer the opportunity to validate existing neuro-developmental models of autism against experimental evidence. Although autism is mainly seen as a disorder of social interaction and communication, emerging early markers do not exclusively reflect impairments of the “social brain”. Evidence for atypical development of sensory and attentional systems highlight the need to move away from localized deficits to models suggesting brain-wide involvement in autism pathology. We discuss the implications infant sibs findings have for future work into the biology of autism and the development of interventions
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