Quantum bits with Josephson junctions

Already in the first edition of this book (Barone and Paterno, "Fundamentals and Physics and Applications of the Josephson Effect", Wiley 1982), a great number of interesting and important applications for Josephson junctions were discussed. In the decades that have passed since then, several new applications have emerged. This chapter treats one such new class of applications: quantum optics and quantum information processing (QIP) based on superconducting circuits with Josephson junctions. In this chapter, we aim to explain the basics of superconducting quantum circuits with Josephson junctions and demonstrate how these systems open up new prospects, both for QIP and for the study of quantum optics and atomic physics.Comment: 30 pages, 10 figures. Book chapter for a new edition of Barone and Paterno's "Fundamentals and Physics and Applications of the Josephson Effect". Final versio

Genome-wide association studies identify 137 genetic loci for DNA methylation biomarkers of aging

Background Biological aging estimators derived from DNA methylation data are heritable and correlate with morbidity and mortality. Consequently, identification of genetic and environmental contributors to the variation in these measures in populations has become a major goal in the field. Results Leveraging DNA methylation and SNP data from more than 40,000 individuals, we identify 137 genome-wide significant loci, of which 113 are novel, from genome-wide association study (GWAS) meta-analyses of four epigenetic clocks and epigenetic surrogate markers for granulocyte proportions and plasminogen activator inhibitor 1 levels, respectively. We find evidence for shared genetic loci associated with the Horvath clock and expression of transcripts encoding genes linked to lipid metabolism and immune function. Notably, these loci are independent of those reported to regulate DNA methylation levels at constituent clock CpGs. A polygenic score for GrimAge acceleration showed strong associations with adiposity-related traits, educational attainment, parental longevity, and C-reactive protein levels. Conclusion This study illuminates the genetic architecture underlying epigenetic aging and its shared genetic contributions with lifestyle factors and longevity.Peer reviewe

Edge computing server placement with capacitated location allocation

Abstract The deployment of edge computing infrastructure requires a careful placement of the edge servers, with an aim to improve application latencies and reduce data transfer load in opportunistic Internet of Things systems. In the edge server placement, it is important to consider computing capacity, available deployment budget, and hardware requirements for the edge servers and the underlying backbone network topology. In this paper, we thoroughly survey the existing literature in edge server placement, identify gaps and present an extensive set of parameters to be considered. We then develop a novel algorithm, called PACK, for server placement as a capacitated location–allocation problem. PACK minimizes the distances between servers and their associated access points, while taking into account capacity constraints for load balancing and enabling workload sharing between servers. Moreover, PACK considers practical issues such as prioritized locations and reliability. We evaluate the algorithm in two distinct scenarios: one with high capacity servers for edge computing in general, and one with low capacity servers for Fog computing. Evaluations are performed with a data set collected in a real-world network, consisting of both dense and sparse deployments of access points across a city area. The resulting algorithm and related tools are publicly available as open source software