18,230 research outputs found
High-fidelity simulations of the lobe-and-cleft structures and the deposition map in particle-driven gravity currents
Recording from two neurons: second order stimulus reconstruction from spike trains and population coding
We study the reconstruction of visual stimuli from spike trains, recording
simultaneously from the two H1 neurons located in the lobula plate of the fly
Chrysomya megacephala. The fly views two types of stimuli, corresponding to
rotational and translational displacements. If the reconstructed stimulus is to
be represented by a Volterra series and correlations between spikes are to be
taken into account, first order expansions are insufficient and we have to go
to second order, at least. In this case higher order correlation functions have
to be manipulated, whose size may become prohibitively large. We therefore
develop a Gaussian-like representation for fourth order correlation functions,
which works exceedingly well in the case of the fly. The reconstructions using
this Gaussian-like representation are very similar to the reconstructions using
the experimental correlation functions. The overall contribution to rotational
stimulus reconstruction of the second order kernels - measured by a chi-squared
averaged over the whole experiment - is only about 8% of the first order
contribution. Yet if we introduce an instant-dependent chi-square to measure
the contribution of second order kernels at special events, we observe an up to
100% improvement. As may be expected, for translational stimuli the
reconstructions are rather poor. The Gaussian-like representation could be a
valuable aid in population coding with large number of neurons
On the quantumness of correlations in nuclear magnetic resonance
Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) was successfully employed to test several
protocols and ideas in Quantum Information Science. In most of these
implementations the existence of entanglement was ruled out. This fact
introduced concerns and questions about the quantum nature of such bench tests.
In this article we address some issues related to the non-classical aspects of
NMR systems. We discuss some experiments where the quantum aspects of this
system are supported by quantum correlations of separable states. Such
quantumness, beyond the entanglement-separability paradigm, is revealed via a
departure between the quantum and the classical versions of information theory.
In this scenario, the concept of quantum discord seems to play an important
role. We also present an experimental implementation of an analogous of the
single-photon Mach-Zehnder interferometer employing two nuclear spins to encode
the interferometric paths. This experiment illustrate how non-classical
correlations of separable states may be used to simulate quantum dynamics. The
results obtained are completely equivalent to the optical scenario, where
entanglement (between two field modes) may be present
Equipamentos para aplicação de fertilizantes via irrigação.
bitstream/item/28950/1/Jose-Maria.pd
Nonclassical correlation in NMR quadrupolar systems
The existence of quantum correlation (as revealed by quantum discord), other
than entanglement and its role in quantum-information processing (QIP), is a
current subject for discussion. In particular, it has been suggested that this
nonclassical correlation may provide computational speedup for some quantum
algorithms. In this regard, bulk nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) has been
successfully used as a test bench for many QIP implementations, although it has
also been continuously criticized for not presenting entanglement in most of
the systems used so far. In this paper, we report a theoretical and
experimental study on the dynamics of quantum and classical correlations in an
NMR quadrupolar system. We present a method for computing the correlations from
experimental NMR deviation-density matrices and show that, given the action of
the nuclear-spin environment, the relaxation produces a monotonic time decay in
the correlations. Although the experimental realizations were performed in a
specific quadrupolar system, the main results presented here can be applied to
whichever system uses a deviation-density matrix formalism.Comment: Published versio
FÉRAL, Josette, Mise en scène et jeu de l’acteur : entretiens, Montréal/Carnières (Belgique), Éditions Jeu/Éditions Lansman, t. 2, 1998
Frugivorous birds are important seed dispersers and influence the recruitment of many plant species in the rainforest. The efficiency of this dispersal generally depends on environment quality, bird species, richness and diversity of resources, and low levels of anthropogenic disturbance. In this study, we compared the sighting number of dusky-legged guans (Penelope obscura) by km and their movement in two areas of Serra do Japi, one around the administrative base (Base) where birds received anthropogenic food and a pristine area (DAE) with no anthropogenic resource. We also compared the richness of native seeds in feces of birds living in these two areas. Although the abundance of P. obscura was higher in the Base, these individuals moved less, dispersed 80% fewer species of plants and consumed 30% fewer seeds than individuals from DAE. The rarefaction indicated a low richness in the frugivorous diet of birds from the Base when compared to the populations from DAE. We conclude that human food supply can interfere in the behavior of these birds and in the richness of native seeds dispersed.Frugivorous birds are important seed dispersers and influence the recruitment of many plant species in the rainforest. The efficiency of this dispersal generally depends on environment quality, bird species, richness and diversity of resources, and low le75410081017sem informaçãosem informaçãoAves frugívoras são importantes dispersoras de sementes e influenciam no recrutamento de muitas espécies na floresta tropical. A eficiência dessa dispersão geralmente depende da qualidade do meio ambiente, das espécies de aves envolvidas, da riqueza e divWe thank the Graduate Program in Ecology of Unicampfor financial support through the discipline Topics in Field Ecology. The Research Base of Serra do Japi for lodging and authorizing research in the study area. We also thank E. Pereira for contributions
Experimentally Witnessing the Quantumness of Correlations
The quantification of quantum correlations (other than entanglement) usually
entails laboured numerical optimization procedures also demanding quantum state
tomographic methods. Thus it is interesting to have a laboratory friendly
witness for the nature of correlations. In this Letter we report a direct
experimental implementation of such a witness in a room temperature nuclear
magnetic resonance system. In our experiment the nature of correlations is
revealed by performing only few local magnetization measurements. We also
compare the witness results with those for the symmetric quantum discord and we
obtained a fairly good agreement
Advanced silk-based biotextiles for bone regeneration applications
Increasing efforts have been made in tissue engineering (TE) research for novel biomaterials and scaffolds that can efficiently support bone tissue regeneration and repair. Textile-based technologies are predefined manufacturing processes of particular interest since they allow for producing finely tuned fiber-based structures with controlled three-dimensional architecture and improved mechanical properties. Highly reproducible scaffolds can be achieved with interconnected macro- and micro-porosity suitable for controlling cell functions and guiding bone tissue regeneration and repair. Herein, the recent studies dealing with the processing methodologies, physical properties, and biocompatibility of fiber-based scaffolds for bone TE applications are overviewed. The fundamentals and application of silk fibroin (SF) protein as biomaterial for scaffolds production, made up of micro- and nano-fibers are also considered. The promising outcomes of such investigations are summarized and discussed in depth.The authors thank to the project FROnTHERA (NORTE-01-0145-FEDER-000023), supported by Norte Portugal Regional Operational Programme (NORTE 2020), under the PORTUGAL 2020 Partnership Agreement, through the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF). The financial
support from the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology to Fun4TE project (PTDC/EMD-EMD/31367/2017), for the Junior Researcher contract (POCI-01-0145-FEDER 031367), and for the FCT distinction attributed to J. M. Oliveira under the Investigador FCT program (IF/01285/2015) are also greatly acknowledged
Special issue: Biopolymer-based materials for biomedical engineering
In the field of tissue engineering and regenerative medicine (TERM), the use of traditional
biomaterials capable of integrating the host tissue to promote the healing and
regenerative process while it degrades has become less and less a focus of inspiration.
The current trend is to increase the complexity of the host materials in order to better
emulate the extracellular microenvironment of heathy and disease tissues. Thus, the
combination of materials engineering with other emerging fields, such as nanotechnology,
cell and molecular therapy, and precision medicine, can allow for the development of
innovative biopolymer-based scaffolds for specific biomedical approaches
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