Polariton condensation and lasing in optical microcavities - the decoherence driven crossover

We explore the behaviour of a system which consists of a photon mode dipole coupled to a medium of two-level oscillators in a microcavity in the presence of decoherence. We consider two types of decoherence processes which are analogous to magnetic and non-magnetic impurities in superconductors. We study different phases of this system as the decoherence strength and the excitation density is changed. For a low decoherence we obtain a polariton condensate with comparable excitonic and photonic parts at low densities and a BCS-like state with bigger photon component due to the fermionic phase space filling effect at high densities. In both cases there is a large gap in the density of states. As the decoherence is increased the gap is broadened and suppressed, resulting in a gapless condensate and finally a suppression of the coherence in a low density regime and a laser at high density limit. A crossover between these regimes is studied in a self-consistent way analogous to the Abrikosov and Gor'kov theory of gapless superconductivity.Comment: 17 pages, 8 figures, submitted to PR

QCD ghost f(T)-gravity model

Within the framework of modified teleparallel gravity, we reconstruct a f(T) model corresponding to the QCD ghost dark energy scenario. For a spatially flat FRW universe containing only the pressureless matter, we obtain the time evolution of the torsion scalar T (or the Hubble parameter). Then, we calculate the effective torsion equation of state parameter of the QCD ghost f(T)-gravity model as well as the deceleration parameter of the universe. Furthermore, we fit the model parameters by using the latest observational data including SNeIa, CMB and BAO data. We also check the viability of our model using a cosmographic analysis approach. Moreover, we investigate the validity of the generalized second law (GSL) of gravitational thermodynamics for our model. Finally, we point out the growth rate of matter density perturbation. We conclude that in QCD ghost f(T)-gravity model, the universe begins a matter dominated phase and approaches a de Sitter regime at late times, as expected. Also this model is consistent with current data, passes the cosmographic test, satisfies the GSL and fits the data of the growth factor well as the LCDM model.Comment: 19 pages, 9 figures, 2 tables. arXiv admin note: substantial text overlap with arXiv:1111.726

High-throughput screening of monoclonal antibodies against plant cell wall glycans by hierarchical clustering of their carbohydrate microarray binding profiles

Antibody-producing hybridoma cell lines were created following immunisation with a crude extract of cell wall polymers from the plant Arabidopsis thaliana. In order to rapidly screen the specificities of individual monoclonal antibodies (mAbs), their binding to microarrays containing 50 cell wall glycans immobilized on nitrocellulose was assessed. Hierarchical clustering of microarray binding profiles from newly produced mAbs, together with the profiles for mAbs with previously defined specificities allowed the rapid assignments of mAb binding to antigen classes. mAb specificities were further investigated using subsequent immunochemical and biochemical analyses and two novel mAbs are described in detail. mAb LM13 binds to an arabinanase-sensitive pectic epitope and mAb LM14, binds to an epitope occurring on arabinogalactan-proteins. Both mAbs display novel patterns of recognition of cell walls in plant materials

Prediction and estimation of pulmonary response and elastance evolution for volume-controlled and pressure-controlled ventilation

Mechanical ventilation (MV) is a core treatment for patients suffering from respiratory disease and failure. However, MV settings are not standardized due to significant inter- and intra- patient variability in response to care, leading to variability in outcome. There is thus a need to personalize MV settings. This research significantly extends a single compartment lung mechanics model with physiologically relevant basis functions, and uses it to identify patient-specific lung mechanics and predict response to changes in MV settings. Nonlinear evolution of pulmonary elastance over positive end expiratory pressure (PEEP) is modelled by a newly proposed, physiologically relevant and simplified compensatory function to enable prediction of pulmonary response for both volume-controlled ventilation (VCV) and pressure-controlled ventilation (PCV), and identified as patientspecific using each patient's data at a baseline PEEP. Predictions at higher PEEP levels test the validity of the proposed models based on errors in predicted peak inspiratory pressure (PIP) in two VCV trials and volume (PIV) in one PCV trial. A total of 210 prediction cases over 36 patients (22 VCV; 14 PCV) yielded absolute predicted PIP errors within 1.0 cmH2O (2.3%) and 3.3 cmH2O (7.3%) for 90% cases in VCV, while predicted PIV errors are within 0.073 L (16.8%) for 85% cases in PCV. In conclusion, a novel deterministic virtual patient model is presented, able to offer accurate prediction of pulmonary response across a wide range of PEEP changes for the two main MV modes used clinically, enabling predictive decision support in real-time to safely personalize and optimize care