Probing Spin-Charge Separation in Tunnel-Coupled Parallel Quantum Wires

Interactions in one-dimensional (1D) electron systems are expected to cause a dynamical separation of electronic spin and charge degrees of freedom. A promising system for experimental observation of this non-Fermi-liquid effect consists of two quantum wires coupled via tunneling through an extended uniform barrier. Here we consider the minimal model of an interacting 1D electron system exhibiting spin-charge separation and calculate the differential tunneling conductance as well as the density-density response function. Both quantities exhibit distinct strong features arising from spin-charge separation. Our analysis of these features within the minimal model neglects interactions between electrons of opposite chirality and applies therefore directly to chiral 1D electron systems realized, e.g., at the edge of integer quantum-Hall systems. Physical insight gained from our results is useful for interpreting current experiment in quantum wires as our main conclusions still apply with nonchiral interactions present. In particular, we discuss the effect of charging due to applied voltages, and the possibility to observe spin-charge separation in a time-resolved experiment.Comment: 9 pages, 3 figures, expanded version with many detail

Edge Dynamics in Quantum Hall Bilayers II: Exact Results with Disorder and Parallel Fields

We study edge dynamics in the presence of interlayer tunneling, parallel magnetic field, and various types of disorder for two infinite sequences of quantum Hall states in symmetric bilayers. These sequences begin with the 110 and 331 Halperin states and include their fractional descendants at lower filling factors; the former is easily realized experimentally while the latter is a candidate for the experimentally observed quantum Hall state at a total filling factor of 1/2 in bilayers. We discuss the experimentally interesting observables that involve just one chiral edge of the sample and the correlation functions needed for computing them. We present several methods for obtaining exact results in the presence of interactions and disorder which rely on the chiral character of the system. Of particular interest are our results on the 331 state which suggest that a time-resolved measurement at the edge can be used to discriminate between the 331 and Pfaffian scenarios for the observed quantum Hall state at filling factor 1/2 in realistic double-layer systems.Comment: revtex+epsf; two-up postscript at http://www.sns.ias.edu/~leonid/ntwoup.p

Induction of Colonic Aberrant Crypts in Mice by Feeding Apparent N-Nitroso Compounds Derived From Hot Dogs

Nitrite-preserved meats (e.g., hot dogs) may help cause colon cancer because they contain N-nitroso compounds. We tested whether purified hot-dog-derived total apparent N-nitroso compounds (ANC) could induce colonic aberrant crypts, which are putative precursors of colon cancer. We purified ANC precursors in hot dogs and nitrosated them to produce ANC. In preliminary tests, CF1 mice received 1 or 3 i.p. injections of 5mg azoxymethane (AOM)/kg. In Experiments 1 and 2, female A/J mice received ANC in diet. In Experiment 1, ANC dose initially dropped sharply because the ANC precursors had mostly decomposed but, later in Experiment 1 and throughout Experiment 2, ANC remained at 85 nmol/g diet. Mice were killed after 8 (AOM tests) or 17–34 (ANC tests) wk.Median numbers of aberrant crypts in the distal 2 cm of the colon for 1 and 3 AOMinjections, CF1 controls, ANC (Experiment 1), ANC (Experiment 2),and untreated A/J mice were 31, 74, 12, 20, 12, and 5–6, with P < 0.01 for both ANC tests. Experiment 2 showed somewhat increased numbers of colonic mucin-depleted foci in the ANC-treated group. We conclude that hot-dog-derived ANC induced significant numbers of aberrant crypts in the mouse colon

Modeling Dynamic Interaction in Virtual Environments and the Evaluation of Dynamic Virtual Fixtures

Virtual reality (VR) is a technology covering a large field of applications among which are sports and video games. In both gaming and sporting VR applications, interaction techniques involve specific gestures such as catching or striking. However, such dynamic gestures are not currently being recognized as elementary task primitives, and have therefore not been investigated as such. In this paper, we propose a framework for the analysis of interaction in dynamic virtual environments (DVEs). This framework is based on three dynamic interaction primitives (DIPs) that are common to many sporting activities: catching, throwing, and striking. For each of these primitives, an original modeling approach is proposed. Furthermore, we introduce and formalize the concept of dynamic virtual fixtures (DVFs). These fixtures aim to assist the user in tasks involving interaction with moving objects or with objects to be set in movement. Two experiments have been carried out to investigate the influence of different DVFs on human performance in the context of ball catching and archery. The results reveal a significant positive effect of the DVFs, and that DVFs could be either classified as “performance-assisted” or “learning-assisted.

Conductance oscillations in strongly correlated fractional quantum Hall line junctions

We present a detailed theory of transport through line junctions formed by counterpropagating single-branch fractional-quantum-Hall edge channels having different filling factors. Intriguing transport properties are exhibited when strong Coulomb interactions between electrons from the two edges are present. Such strongly correlated line junctions can be classified according to the value of an effective line-junction filling factor n that is the inverse of an even integer. Interactions turn out to affect transport most importantly for n=1/2 and n=1/4. A particularly interesting case is n=1/4 corresponding to, e.g., a junction of edge channels having filling factor 1 and 1/5, respectively. We predict its differential tunneling conductance to oscillate as a function of voltage. This behavior directly reflects the existence of novel Majorana-fermion quasiparticle excitations in this type of line junction. Experimental accessibility of such systems in current cleaved-edge overgrown samples enables direct testing of our theoretical predictions.Comment: 2 figures, 10 pages, RevTex4, v2: added second figure for clarit

Subconjunctival Injection of XG-102, a c-Jun N-Terminal Kinase Inhibitor Peptide, in the Treatment of Endotoxin-Induced Uveitis in Rats.

Abstract Purpose: XG-102, a TAT-coupled dextrogyre peptide inhibiting the c-Jun N-terminal kinase, was shown efficient in the treatment of experimental uveitis. Preclinical studies are now performed to determine optimal XG-102 dose and route of administration in endotoxin-induced uveitis (EIU) in rats with the purpose of clinical study design. METHODS: EIU was induced in Lewis rats by lipopolysaccharides (LPS) injection. XG-102 was administered at the time of LPS challenge by intravenous (IV; 3.2, 35 or 355 μg/injection), intravitreal (IVT; 0.08, 0.2 or 2.2 μg/eye), or subconjunctival (SCJ; 0.2, 1.8 or 22 μg/eye) routes. Controls received either the vehicle (saline) or dexamethasone phosphate injections. Efficacy was assessed by clinical scoring, infiltrating cells count, and expression of inflammatory mediators [inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS), cytokine-induced neutrophil chemoattractant-1 (CINC-1)]. The effect of XG-102 on phosphorylation of c-Jun was evaluated by Western blot. RESULTS: XG-102 demonstrated a dose-dependent anti-inflammatory effect in EIU after IV and SCJ administrations. Respective doses of 35 and 1.8 μg were efficient as compared with the vehicle-injected controls, but only the highest doses, respectively 355 and 22 μg, were as efficient as dexamethasone phosphate. After IVT injections, the anti-inflammatory effect of XG-102 was clinically evaluated similar to the corticoid's effect with all the tested doses. Regardless of the administration route, the lowest efficient doses of XG-102 significantly decreased the ration of phospho c-Jun/total c-Jun, reduced cells infiltration in the treated eyes, and significantly downregulated iNOS and CINC-1 expression in the retina. CONCLUSION: These results confirm that XG-102 peptide has potential for treating intraocular inflammation. SCJ injection appears as a good compromise to provide a therapeutic effect while limiting side effects

Anti-vascular endothelial growth factor acts on retinal microglia/macrophage activation in a rat model of ocular inflammation.

PURPOSE: To evaluate whether anti-vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) neutralizing antibodies injected in the vitreous of rat eyes influence retinal microglia and macrophage activation. To dissociate the effect of anti-VEGF on microglia and macrophages subsequent to its antiangiogenic effect, we chose a model of acute intraocular inflammation. METHODS: Lewis rats were challenged with systemic lipopolysaccharide (LPS) injection and concomitantly received 5 µl of rat anti-VEGF-neutralizing antibody (1.5 mg/ml) in the vitreous. Rat immunoglobulin G (IgG) isotype was used as the control. The effect of anti-VEGF was evaluated at 24 and 48 h clinically (uveitis scores), biologically (cytokine multiplex analysis in ocular media), and histologically (inflammatory cell counts on eye sections). Microglia and macrophages were immunodetected with ionized calcium-binding adaptor molecule 1 (IBA1) staining and counted based on their differential shapes (round amoeboid or ramified dendritiform) on sections and flatmounted retinas using confocal imaging and automatic quantification. Activation of microglia was also evaluated with inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) and IBA1 coimmunostaining. Coimmunolocalization of VEGF receptor 1 and 2 (VEGF-R1 and R2) with IBA1 was performed on eye sections with or without anti-VEGF treatment. RESULTS: Neutralizing rat anti-VEGF antibodies significantly decreased ocular VEGF levels but did not decrease the endotoxin-induced uveitis (EIU) clinical score or the number of infiltrating cells and cytokines in ocular media (interleukin [IL]-1β, IL-6, tumor necrosis factor [TNF]-α, and monocyte chemoattractant protein [MCP]-1). Eyes treated with anti-VEGF showed a significantly decreased number of activated microglia and macrophages in the retina and the choroid and decreased iNOS-positive microglia. IBA1-positive cells expressed VEGF-R1 and R2 in the inflamed retina. CONCLUSIONS: Microglia and macrophages expressed VEGF receptors, and intravitreous anti-VEGF influenced the microglia and macrophage activation state. Taking into account that anti-VEGF drugs are repeatedly injected in the vitreous of patients with retinal diseases, part of their effects could result from unsuspected modulation of the microglia activation state. This should be further studied in other ocular pathogenic conditions and human pathology

Spectral problems in open quantum chaos

This review article will present some recent results and methods in the study of 1-particle quantum or wave scattering systems, in the semiclassical/high frequency limit, in cases where the corresponding classical/ray dynamics is chaotic. We will focus on the distribution of quantum resonances, and the structure of the corresponding metastable states. Our study includes the toy model of open quantum maps, as well as the recent quantum monodromy operator method.Comment: Compared with the previous version, misprints and typos have been corrected, and the bibliography update

Coherent frequency conversion in a superconducting artificial atom with two internal degrees of freedom

By adding a large inductance in a dc-SQUID phase qubit loop, one decouples the junctions' dynamics and creates a superconducting artificial atom with two internal degrees of freedom. In addition to the usual symmetric plasma mode ({\it s}-mode) which gives rise to the phase qubit, an anti-symmetric mode ({\it a}-mode) appears. These two modes can be described by two anharmonic oscillators with eigenstates $\ket{n_{s}}$ and $\ket{n_{a}}$ for the {\it s} and {\it a}-mode, respectively. We show that a strong nonlinear coupling between the modes leads to a large energy splitting between states $\ket{0_{s},1_{a}}$ and $\ket{2_{s},0_{a}}$. Finally, coherent frequency conversion is observed via free oscillations between the states $\ket{0_{s},1_{a}}$ and $\ket{2_{s},0_{a}}$

Direct imaging discovery of 12-14 Jupiter mass object orbiting a young binary system of very low-mass stars

Context. Though only a handful of extrasolar planets have been discovered via direct imaging, each of these discoveries had tremendous impact on our understanding of planetary formation, stellar formation and cool atmosphere physics. Aims. Since many of these newly imaged giant planets orbit massive A or even B stars we investigated whether giant planets could be found orbiting low-mass stars at large separations. Methods. We have been conducting an adaptive optic imaging survey to search for planetary-mass companions of young M dwarfs of the solar neigbourhood, to probe different initial conditions of planetary formation. Results. We report here the direct imaging discovery of 2MASS J01033563-5515561(AB)b, a 12-14 MJup companion at a projected separation of 84 AU from a pair of young late M stars, with which it shares proper motion. We also detected a Keplerian-compatible orbital motion. Conclusions. This young L-type object at planet/brown dwarf mass boundary is the first ever imaged around a binary system at a separation compatible with formation in a disc.Comment: Accepted in A&A letter