3,273 research outputs found
Effect of Static Disorder in an Electron Fabry-Perot Interferometer with Two Quantum Scattering Centers
In a recent paper -- F. Ciccarello \emph{et al.}, New J. Phys. \textbf{8},
214 (2006) -- we have demonstrated that the electron transmission properties of
a one-dimensional (1D) wire with two identical embedded spin-1/2 impurities can
be significantly affected by entanglement between the spins of the scattering
centers. Such effect is of particular interest in the control of transmission
of quantum information in nanostructures and can be used as a detection scheme
of maximally entangled states of two localized spins. In this letter, we relax
the constraint that the two magnetic impurities are equal and investigate how
the main results presented in the above paper are affected by a static disorder
in the exchange coupling constants of the impurities. Good robustness against
deviation from impurity symmetry is found for both the entanglement dependent
transmission and the maximally entangled states generation scheme.Comment: 4 pages, 5 figure
Geometrical effects on energy transfer in disordered open quantum systems
We explore various design principles for efficient excitation energy
transport in complex quantum systems. We investigate energy transfer efficiency
in randomly disordered geometries consisting of up to 20 chromophores to
explore spatial and spectral properties of small natural/artificial
Light-Harvesting Complexes (LHC). We find significant statistical correlations
among highly efficient random structures with respect to ground state
properties, excitonic energy gaps, multichromophoric spatial connectivity, and
path strengths. These correlations can even exist beyond the optimal regime of
environment-assisted quantum transport. For random configurations embedded in
spatial dimensions of 30 A and 50 A, we observe that the transport efficiency
saturates to its maximum value if the systems contain 7 and 14 chromophores
respectively. Remarkably, these optimum values coincide with the number of
chlorophylls in (Fenna-Matthews-Olson) FMO protein complex and LHC II monomers,
respectively, suggesting a potential natural optimization with respect to
chromophoric density.Comment: 11 pages, 10 figures. Expanded from the former appendix to
arXiv:1104.481
Electrical and Magnetic Properties of Mn-Bi-Sb Alloys
MnBi1-xSbx alloys were prepared by the conventional melt technique. The Seebeck coefficient (S), electrical resistivity (ρ), and magnetic susceptibility (c) were measured at various temperatures ranging from ~100 to 400 K. The electrical resistivity of x £ 0.15 shows both semiconducting and metallic behavior depending on temperature and Sb content, whereas samples x 3 0.2 have only semiconductor behavior in all the temperature range. The negative sign of the Seebeck coefficient increases, i.e., the positivity decreases with the increasing Sb content. The magnetic susceptibility (χ) shows that alloys undergo ferro-paramagnetic transition at a certain temperature (TC) and the TC values decrease with increasing Sb content. From thermoelectric measurements and electronic thermal conductivity calculated, it was observed that Sb doping increases the power factor (PF) and the figure of merit (ZT). Thus, Sb content plays an essential role in making these alloys applicable in the thermoelectric industry
Implementing quantum gates through scattering between a static and a flying qubit
We investigate whether a two-qubit quantum gate can be implemented in a
scattering process involving a flying and a static qubit. To this end, we focus
on a paradigmatic setup made out of a mobile particle and a quantum impurity,
whose respective spin degrees of freedom couple to each other during a
one-dimensional scattering process. Once a condition for the occurrence of
quantum gates is derived in terms of spin-dependent transmission coefficients,
we show that this can be actually fulfilled through the insertion of an
additional narrow potential barrier. An interesting observation is that under
resonance conditions the above enables a gate only for isotropic Heisenberg
(exchange) interactions and fails for an XY interaction. We show the existence
of parameter regimes for which gates able to establish a maximum amount of
entanglement can be implemented. The gates are found to be robust to variations
of the optimal parameters.Comment: 7 pages, 3 figure
Entanglement Controlled Single-Electron Transmittivity
We consider a system consisting of single electrons moving along a 1D wire in
the presence of two magnetic impurities. Such system shows strong analogies
with a Fabry - Perot interferometer in which the impurities play the role of
two mirrors with a quantum degree of freedom: the spin. We have analysed the
electron transmittivity of the wire in the presence of entanglement between the
impurity spins. The main result of our analysis is that, for suitable values of
the electron momentum, there are two maximally entangled state of the impurity
spins the first of which makes the wire transparent whatever the electron spin
state while the other strongly inhibits the electron transmittivity. Such
predicted striking effect is experimentally observable with present day
technology.Comment: Published version (6 figures
pH-Sensitive nanoparticles containing 5-fluorouracil and leucovorin as an improved anti-cancer option for colon cancer
Parenteral administration of chemotherapeutic drugs, 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) and leucovorin (LV), is commonly used to treat large bowel carcinomas such as colon cancer (CC) and colorectal carcinoma (CRC). Our study aims to design a novel nanoparticulate drug-delivery vehicle for oral use capable of colon-specific release. A modified double-emulsion solvent evaporation method was used in the preparation of pH-responsive Eudargit S100 polymeric nanoparticles, loaded with 5-FU/LV combination (5-FU/LV-loaded Eudargit S100 NPs). Our optimized drug-loaded NP showed a pH-responsive drug release and exhibited significantly more cytotoxic actions in cancer-cell lines than free drugs. These findings open the way for conducting clinical trials for colon malignancies treated with nanoparticles
Genetic Dissection of Sympatric Populations of Brown Planthopper, Nilaparvata lugens (Stål), Using DALP-PCR Molecular Markers
Direct amplified length polymorphism (DALP) combines the advantages of a high-resolution fingerprint method and also characterizing the genetic polymorphisms. This molecular method was also found to be useful in brown planthopper, Nilaparvata lugens species complex for the analysis of genetic polymorphisms. A total of 11 populations of Nilaparvata spp. were collected from 6 locations from Malaysia. Two sympatric populations of brown planthopper, N. lugens, one from rice and the other from a weed grass (Leersia hexandra), were collected from each of five locations. N. bakeri was used as an out group. Three oligonucleotide primer pairs, DALP231/DALPR′5, DALP234/DALPR′5, and DALP235/DALPR′5 were applied in this study. The unweighted pair group method with arithmetic mean (UPGMA) dendrogram based on genetic distances for the 11 populations of Nilaparvata spp. revealed that populations belonging to the same species and the same host type clustered together irrespective of their geographical localities of capture. The populations of N. lugens formed into two distinct clusters, one was insects with high esterase activities usually captured from rice and the other was with low esterase activities usually captured from L. hexandra. N. bakeri, an out group, was the most isolated group. Analyses of principal components, molecular variance, and robustness also supported greatly to the findings of cluster analysis
The meeting problem in the quantum random walk
We study the motion of two non-interacting quantum particles performing a
random walk on a line and analyze the probability that the two particles are
detected at a particular position after a certain number of steps (meeting
problem). The results are compared to the corresponding classical problem and
differences are pointed out. Analytic formulas for the meeting probability and
its asymptotic behavior are derived. The decay of the meeting probability for
distinguishable particles is faster then in the classical case, but not
quadratically faster. Entangled initial states and the bosonic or fermionic
nature of the walkers are considered
Evaluating Risk:Benefit Ratio of Fat-Soluble Vitamin Supplementation to SARS-CoV-2-Infected Autoimmune and Cancer Patients: Do Vitamin–Drug Interactions Exist?
COVID-19 is a recent pandemic that mandated the scientific society to provide effective evidence-based therapeutic approaches for the prevention and treatment for such a global threat, especially to those patients who hold a higher risk of infection and complications, such as patients with autoimmune diseases and cancer. Recent research has examined the role of various fat-soluble vitamins (vitamins A, D, E, and K) in reducing the severity of COVID-19 infection. Studies showed that deficiency in fat-soluble vitamins abrogates the immune system, thus rendering individuals more susceptible to COVID-19 infection. Moreover, another line of evidence showed that supplementation of fat-soluble vitamins during the course of infection enhances the viral clearance episode by promoting an adequate immune response. However, more thorough research is needed to define the adequate use of vitamin supplements in cancer and autoimmune patients infected with COVID-19. Moreover, it is crucial to highlight the vitamin–drug interactions of the COVID-19 therapeutic modalities and fat-soluble vitamins. With an emphasis on cancer and autoimmune patients, the current review aims to clarify the role of fat-soluble vitamins in SARS-CoV-2 infection and to estimate the risk-to-benefit ratio of a fat-soluble supplement administered to patients taking FDA-approved COVID-19 medications such as antivirals, anti-inflammatory, receptor blockers, and monoclonal antibodies
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