Optical Stark Effect and Dressed Excitonic States in a Mn-doped Quantum Dot

We report on the observation of spin dependent optically dressed states and optical Stark effect on an individual Mn spin in a semiconductor quantum dot. The vacuum-to-exciton or the exciton-to-biexciton transitions in a Mn-doped quantum dot are optically dressed by a strong laser field and the resulting spectral signature is measured in photoluminescence. We demonstrate that the energy of any spin state of a Mn atom can be independently tuned using the optical Stark effect induced by a control laser. High resolution spectroscopy reveals a power, polarization and detuning dependent Autler-Townes splitting of each optical transition of the Mn-doped quantum dot. This experiment demonstrates a complete optical resonant control of the exciton-Mn system

A model for atomic and molecular interstellar gas: The Meudon PDR code

We present the revised ``Meudon'' model of Photon Dominated Region (PDR code), presently available on the web under the Gnu Public Licence at: http://aristote.obspm.fr/MIS. General organisation of the code is described down to a level that should allow most observers to use it as an interpretation tool with minimal help from our part. Two grids of models, one for low excitation diffuse clouds and one for dense highly illuminated clouds, are discussed, and some new results on PDR modelisation highlighted.Comment: accepted in ApJ sup

A liquidus phase diagram for a primitive shergottite

To see if there is any relationship between primitive shergottites such as Eg and evolved shergottites such as Shergotty and Zagami, we performed one-bar experiments on the Eg composition. Broadly, our experimental results compare favorably with prediction. Our inferred phase diagram and comparison to Shergotty and Zagami melting experiments of Stolper and McSween are given. It does not appear possible to derive bulk Shergotty or Zagami by either equilibrium or fractional crystallization of Eg. However, if Shergotty and Zagami are cumulates, it may be possible to derive the inferred interstitial liquid from a composition such as Eg

The effect of an imaginary part of the Schwinger-Dyson equation at finite temperature and density

We examined the effect of an imaginary part of the ladder approximation Schwinger-Dyson equation. We show the imaginary part enhances the effect of the first order transition, and affects a tricritical point. In particular, a chemical potential at a tricritical point is moved about 200(MeV). Thus, one should not ignore the imaginary part. On the other hand, since an imaginary part is small away from a tricritical point, one should be able to ignore an imaginary part. In addition, we also examined the contribution of the wave function renormalization constant.Comment: 12 pages, 14 figure

Large time off-equilibrium dynamics of a manifold in a random potential

We study the out of equilibrium dynamics of an elastic manifold in a random potential using mean-field theory. We find two asymptotic time regimes: (i) stationary dynamics, (ii) slow aging dynamics with violation of equilibrium theorems. We obtain an analytical solution valid for all large times with universal scalings of two-time quantities with space. A non-analytic scaling function crosses over to ultrametricity when the correlations become long-range. We propose procedures to test numerically or experimentally the extent to which this scenario holds for a given system.Comment: 12 page

Long-term in vitro 3D hydrogel co-culture model of inflammatory bowel disease

The in vitro study of the pathogenesis of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) requires a cell model which closely reflects the characteristics of the in vivo intestinal epithelium. This study aimed to investigate the application of L-pNIPAM hydrogel as a scaffold to develop a long-term 3D co-culture model of Caco-2 and HT29-MTX cells under conditions analogous to inflammation, to determine its potential use in studying IBD. Monocultures and co-cultures were layered on L-pNIPAM hydrogel scaffolds and maintained under dynamic culture conditions for up to 12 weeks. Treatments with IL-1β, TNFα, and hypoxia for 1 week were used to create an inflammatory environment. Following prolonged culture, the metabolic activity of Caco-2 monoculture and 90% Caco-2/10% HT29-MTX co-cultures on L-pNIPAM hydrogels were increased, and finger-like structures, similar in appearance to villi were observed. Following treatment with IL-1β, TNFα and hypoxia, ALP and ZO-1 were decreased, MUC2 increased, and MUC5AC remained unchanged. ADAMTS1 was increased in response to hypoxia. Caspase 3 expression was increased in response to TNFα and hypoxic conditions. In conclusion, L-pNIPAM hydrogel supported long-term co-culture within a 3D model. Furthermore, stimulation with factors seen during inflammation recapitulated features seen during IBD

Minimax Estimation of Nonregular Parameters and Discontinuity in Minimax Risk

When a parameter of interest is nondifferentiable in the probability, the existing theory of semiparametric efficient estimation is not applicable, as it does not have an influence function. Song (2014) recently developed a local asymptotic minimax estimation theory for a parameter that is a nondifferentiable transform of a regular parameter, where the nondifferentiable transform is a composite map of a continuous piecewise linear map with a single kink point and a translation-scale equivariant map. The contribution of this paper is two fold. First, this paper extends the local asymptotic minimax theory to nondifferentiable transforms that are a composite map of a Lipschitz continuous map having a finite set of nondifferentiability points and a translation-scale equivariant map. Second, this paper investigates the discontinuity of the local asymptotic minimax risk in the true probability and shows that the proposed estimator remains to be optimal even when the risk is locally robustified not only over the scores at the true probability, but also over the true probability itself. However, the local robustification does not resolve the issue of discontinuity in the local asymptotic minimax risk