Programmable trap geometries with superconducting atom chips

We employ the hysteretic behavior of a superconducting thin film in the remanent state to generate different traps and flexible magnetic potentials for ultra-cold atoms. The trap geometry can be programmed by externally applied fields. This new approach for atom-optics is demonstrated by three different trap types realized on a single micro-structure: a Z-type trap, a double trap and a bias field free trap. Our studies show that superconductors in the remanent state provide a new versatile platform for atom-optics and applications in ultra-cold quantum gases

Reconfigurable self-sufficient traps for ultracold atoms based on a superconducting square

We report on the trapping of ultracold atoms in the magnetic field formed entirely by persistent supercurrents induced in a thin film type-II superconducting square. The supercurrents are carried by vortices induced in the 2D structure by applying two magnetic field pulses of varying amplitude perpendicular to its surface. This results in a self-sufficient quadrupole trap that does not require any externally applied fields. We investigate the trapping parameters for different supercurrent distributions. Furthermore, to demonstrate possible applications of these types of supercurrent traps we show how a central quadrupole trap can be split into four traps by the use of a bias field.Comment: 5 pages, 7 figure

Oral cancer secretome: Identification of cancer-associated proteins

This study aims to identify cancer-associated proteins in the secretome of oral cancer cell lines. We have successfully established four primary cell cultures of normal cells with a limited lifespan without human telomerase reverse transcriptase (hTERT) immortalization. The secretome of these primary cell cultures were compared with that of oral cancer cell lines using 2DE. Thirty five protein spots were found to have changed in abundance. Unambiguous identification of these proteins was achieved by MALDI TOF/TOF. In silico analysis predicted that 24 of these proteins were secreted via classical or nonclassical mechanisms. The mRNA expression of six genes was found to correlate with the corresponding protein abundance. Ingenuity Pathway Analysis (IPA) core analysis revealed that the identified proteins were relevant in, and related to, cancer development with likely involvements in tumor growth, metastasis, hyperproliferation, tumorigenesis, neoplasia, hyperplasia, and cell transformation. In conclusion, we have demonstrated that a comparative study of the secretome of cancer versus normal cell lines can be used to identify cancer-associated proteins.Article Link: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/elps.201300126/abstrac

Multiphoton entanglement through a Bell multiport beam splitter

Multiphoton entanglement is an important resource for linear optics quantum computing. Here we show that a wide range of highly entangled multiphoton states, including W-states, can be prepared by interfering single photons inside a Bell multiport beam splitter and using postselection. A successful state preparation is indicated by the collection of one photon per output port. An advantage of the Bell multiport beam splitter is that it redirects the photons without changing their inner degrees of freedom. The described setup can therefore be used to generate polarisation, time-bin and frequency multiphoton entanglement, even when using only a single photon source.Comment: 8 pages, 2 figures, carefully revised version, references adde

Multi-domain active sound control and noise shielding

This paper describes an active sound control methodology based on difference potentials. The main feature of this methodology is its ability to automatically preserve “wanted” sound within a domain while canceling “unwanted” noise from outside the domain. This method of preservation of the wanted sounds by active shielding control is demonstrated with various broadband and realistic sound sources such as human voice and music in multiple domains in a one-dimensional enclosure. Unlike many other conventional active control methods, the proposed approach does not require the explicit characterization of the wanted sound to be preserved. The controls are designed based on the measurements of the total field on the boundaries of the shielded domain only, which is allowed to be multiply connected. The method is tested in a variety of experimental cases. The typical attenuation of the unwanted noise is found to be about 20 dB over a large area of the shielded domain and the original wanted sound field is preserved with errors of around 1 dB and below through a broad frequency range up to 1 kHz. © 2011 Acoustical Society of Americ

Clinical translation of [18F]ICMT-11 for measuring chemotherapy-induced caspase 3/7 activation in breast and lung cancer

Background: Effective anticancer therapy is thought to involve induction of tumour cell death through apoptosis and/or necrosis. [18F]ICMT-11, an isatin sulfonamide caspase-3/7-specific radiotracer, has been developed for PET imaging and shown to have favourable dosimetry, safety, and biodistribution. We report the translation of [18F]ICMT-11 PET to measure chemotherapy-induced caspase-3/7 activation in breast and lung cancer patients receiving first-line therapy. Results: Breast tumour SUVmax of [18F]ICMT-11 was low at baseline and unchanged following therapy. Measurement of M30/M60 cytokeratin-18 cleavage products showed that therapy was predominantly not apoptosis in nature. While increases in caspase-3 staining on breast histology were seen, post-treatment caspase-3 positivity values were only approximately 1%; this low level of caspase-3 could have limited sensitive detection by [18F]ICMT-11-PET. Fourteen out of 15 breast cancer patients responded to first–line chemotherapy (complete or partial response); one patient had stable disease. Four patients showed increases in regions of high tumour [18F]ICMT-11 intensity on voxel-wise analysis of tumour data (classed as PADS); response was not exclusive to patients with this phenotype. In patients with lung cancer, multi-parametric [18F]ICMT-11 PET and MRI (diffusion-weighted- and dynamic contrast enhanced-MRI) showed that PET changes were concordant with cell death in the absence of significant perfusion changes. Conclusion: This study highlights the potential use of [18F]ICMT-11 PET as a promising candidate for non-invasive imaging of caspase3/7 activation, and the difficulties encountered in assessing early-treatment responses. We summarize that tumour response could occur in the absence of predominant chemotherapy-induced caspase-3/7 activation measured non-invasively across entire tumour lesions in patients with breast and lung cancer

Role of Exogenous Proline in Ameliorating Salt Stress at Early Stage in Two Rice Cultivars

The study evaluated the effect of proline on germination and seedling growth of two Malaysian rice cultivars (MR220 and MR232) under salt stress. The exposure of rice seeds to increasing concentration of NaCl (0, 100, 200, 300 and 400 mM) had drastically affected germination (%), root and shoot length (mm), chlorophyll content and protein content. It is evident from the result of inhibition in germination rate, reduction in root and shoot length, chlorophyll content and protein content. However, several studies have shown that exogenous application of proline has ameliorated the negative effect of salt stress by regulating cellular osmotic balance. The present study has demonstrated that rice seeds pretreated with proline (1mM, 5mM and 10mM) and grown at different NaCl concentrations counteracted the adverse effect of salt. Pretreatment of proline at a concentration of 1mM was found to be effective and stimulated cellular activities, whereas 10mM proline was ineffective in improving plant growth under high level of salt (300 and 400mM NaCl)

“I am most grateful...” using gratitude to improve the sense of relatedness and motivation for online volunteerism

Volunteering benefits those who receive and those who provide help. Yet barriers can inhibit engagement with and motivation for volunteering activities. Online environments on one hand help to lower some of these barriers, but on the other hand they can introduce new obstacles specially when the medium transforms the social interactions important to volunteers. We study the motivational drivers of online volunteering, and how those are affected by design. Specifically, we focus on relatedness as a source of motivation. We describe two studies with volunteers that help medical students to learn and improve their communication skills through mock interviews in an educational program. The volunteers can participate in the program face-to-face or through an online platform. The first study consisted of a survey (n = 66 volunteers), two workshops and one interview (n = 12 volunteers) in which we explored volunteer demographics, motivations, psychological needs, and experiences. Findings suggested relatedness can be an important indicator of volunteer motivations. In the second study, we added a feature to the online platform to display personal gratitude messages from student beneficiaries to the volunteers in order to improve the experience of relatedness between them. In total, n = 30 volunteers completed 196 sessions. We used survey and system data to assess the impact of gratitude on perceived relatedness, motivation, and behavior (immediate, booked, and completed appointments). Results showed that the expression of gratitude by the beneficiary significantly affected the volunteer’s experience of relatedness which then correlated with immediate appointments booking behavior by each volunteer. The implications for design of online volunteering systems are discussed