19,552 research outputs found
Heat-sterilizable power source study for advanced Mariner missions
Heat sterilizable power sources for Mariner Mars landing capsul
Universal Quantum Computation in a Neutral Atom Decoherence Free Subspace
In this paper, we propose a way to achieve protected universal computation in
a neutral atom quantum computer subject to collective dephasing. Our proposal
relies on the existence of a Decoherence Free Subspace (DFS), resulting from
symmetry properties of the errors. After briefly describing the physical system
and the error model considered, we show how to encode information into the DFS
and build a complete set of safe universal gates. Finally, we provide numerical
simulations for the fidelity of the different gates in the presence of
time-dependent phase errors and discuss their performance and practical
feasibility.Comment: 7 pages, 8 figure
Slow-light enhanced optical detection in liquid-infiltrated photonic crystals
Slow-light enhanced optical detection in liquid-infiltrated photonic crystals
is theoretically studied. Using a scattering-matrix approach and the
Wigner-Smith delay time concept, we show that optical absorbance benefits both
from slow-light phenomena as well as a high filling factor of the energy
residing in the liquid. Utilizing strongly dispersive photonic crystal
structures, we numerically demonstrate how liquid-infiltrated photonic crystals
facilitate enhanced light-matter interactions, by potentially up to an order of
magnitude. The proposed concept provides strong opportunities for improving
existing miniaturized absorbance cells for optical detection in lab-on-a-chip
systems.Comment: Paper accepted for the "Special Issue OWTNM 2007" edited by A.
Lavrinenko and P. J. Robert
Commuting self-adjoint extensions of symmetric operators defined from the partial derivatives
We consider the problem of finding commuting self-adjoint extensions of the
partial derivatives {(1/i)(\partial/\partial x_j):j=1,...,d} with domain
C_c^\infty(\Omega) where the self-adjointness is defined relative to
L^2(\Omega), and \Omega is a given open subset of R^d. The measure on \Omega is
Lebesgue measure on R^d restricted to \Omega. The problem originates with I.E.
Segal and B. Fuglede, and is difficult in general. In this paper, we provide a
representation-theoretic answer in the special case when \Omega=I\times\Omega_2
and I is an open interval. We then apply the results to the case when \Omega is
a d-cube, I^d, and we describe possible subsets \Lambda of R^d such that
{e^(i2\pi\lambda \dot x) restricted to I^d:\lambda\in\Lambda} is an orthonormal
basis in L^2(I^d).Comment: LaTeX2e amsart class, 18 pages, 2 figures; PACS numbers 02.20.Km,
02.30.Nw, 02.30.Tb, 02.60.-x, 03.65.-w, 03.65.Bz, 03.65.Db, 61.12.Bt,
61.44.B
Ptychographic X-ray computed tomography of extended colloidal networks in food emulsions
As a main structural level in colloidal food materials, extended colloidal
networks are important for texture and rheology. By obtaining the 3D
microstructure of the network, macroscopic mechanical properties of the
material can be inferred. However, this approach is hampered by the lack of
suitable non-destructive 3D imaging techniques with submicron resolution.
We present results of quantitative ptychographic X-ray computed tomography
applied to a palm kernel oil based oil-in-water emulsion. The measurements were
carried out at ambient pressure and temperature. The 3D structure of the
extended colloidal network of fat globules was obtained with a resolution of
around 300 nm. Through image analysis of the network structure, the fat globule
size distribution was computed and compared to previous findings. In further
support, the reconstructed electron density values were within 4% of reference
values.Comment: 19 pages, 4 figures, to be published in Food Structur
Lipid-modified G4-decoy oligonucleotide anchored to nanoparticles:delivery and bioactivity in pancreatic cancer cells
KRAS is mutated in >90% of pancreatic ductal adenocarcinomas. As its inactivation leads to tumour regression, mutant KRAS is considered an attractive target for anticancer drugs. In this study we report a new delivery strategy for a G4-decoy oligonucleotide that sequesters MAZ, a transcription factor essential for KRAS transcription. It is based on the use of palmitoyl-oleyl-phosphatidylcholine (POPC) liposomes functionalized with lipid-modified G4-decoy oligonucleotides and a lipid-modified cell penetrating TAT peptide. The potency of the strategy in pancreatic cancer cells is demonstrated by cell cytometry, confocal microscopy, clonogenic and qRT-PCR assays
Antiferromagnetic noise correlations in optical lattices
We analyze how noise correlations probed by time-of-flight (TOF) experiments
reveal antiferromagnetic (AF) correlations of fermionic atoms in
two-dimensional (2D) and three-dimensional (3D) optical lattices. Combining
analytical and quantum Monte Carlo (QMC) calculations using experimentally
realistic parameters, we show that AF correlations can be detected for
temperatures above and below the critical temperature for AF ordering. It is
demonstrated that spin-resolved noise correlations yield important information
about the spin ordering. Finally, we show how to extract the spin correlation
length and the related critical exponent of the AF transition from the noise.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figure
Spin-orbit interaction and the 'metal-insulator' transition observed in two-dimensional hole systems
We present calculations of the spin and phase relaxation rates in GaAs/AlGaAs
-type quantum wells. These rates are used to derive the temperature
dependence of the weak-localization correction to the conductivity. In -type
quantum wells both weak localization and weak anti-localization are present due
to the strong spin-orbit interaction. When determining the total conductivity
correction one also have to include the term due to hole-hole interaction. The
magnitude of the latter depends on the ratio between the thermal energy and the
Fermi energy, and whether the system can be considered
as ballistic or diffusive (). We argue that due to the relatively low Fermi energy
and the moderate mobilities, in the -type systems in question, the
conductivity correction arising from hole-hole interactions is negligible at
the highest temperatures accessible in the experiments. Hence the
'metal-insulator' transition observed at these relatively high temperatures
could be caused by interference effects. We compare our calculations of the
weak anti-localization correction with the experimental results from different
independent groups with special emphasis on the experiments by Simmons et al.
We find good agreement between predicted and observed transistion density
.Comment: 6 pages, 4 figures. Accepted to PRB (15 June, 2002
Einstein-Weyl structures corresponding to diagonal K\"ahler Bianchi IX metrics
We analyse in a systematic way the four dimensionnal Einstein-Weyl spaces
equipped with a diagonal K\"ahler Bianchi IX metric. In particular, we show
that the subclass of Einstein-Weyl structures with a constant conformal scalar
curvature is the one with a conformally scalar flat - but not necessarily
scalar flat - metric ; we exhibit its 3-parameter distance and Weyl one-form.
This extends previous analysis of Pedersen, Swann and Madsen , limited to the
scalar flat, antiself-dual case. We also check that, in agreement with a
theorem of Derdzinski, the most general conformally Einstein metric in the
family of biaxial K\"ahler Bianchi IX metrics is an extremal metric of Calabi,
conformal to Carter's metric, thanks to Chave and Valent's results.Comment: 15 pages, Latex file, minor modifications, to be published in Class.
Quant. Gra
Intra-articular treatment of hip osteoarthritis: a randomized trial of hyaluronic acid, corticosteroid, and isotonic saline
SummaryObjectiveHyaluronic acid (HA) and corticosteroids are both widely used for intra-articular treatment of knee osteoarthritis (OA). We examined the effect of both drugs in intra-articular treatment for hip OA.MethodsOne hundred and one patients with hip OA were included in a prospective double blind study, using a randomized controlled trial with a three-armed parallel-group design. Three ultrasound-guided, intra-articular injections were given at 14 days interval. The primary outcome measure was ‘pain on walking’, registered on a visual analogue scale (VAS). Evaluation was performed at baseline and after 14, 28 and 90 days. The study adhered to the Consolidated Standards of Reporting Trials. All analyses were based on intention-to-treat analyses, and used ‘mixed-procedures’ with the baseline-observation as covariate.ResultsThere were no significant interactions with respect to Treatment×Time for any of the analyzed outcome measures. There was a significant treatment effect for ‘pain on walking’ (P=0.044) due to a significant improvement following corticosteroid compared to saline with an effect-size of 0.6 (95% confidence interval: 0.1–1.1, P=0.021). By contrast, HA compared to saline had an effect size of 0.4 (−0.1 to 0.9; P=0.13). The peak-effect was obtained after 2 weeks. There was no difference between the treatment groups at endpoint. No significant side effects of the injections were observed.ConclusionsPatients treated with corticosteroids experienced significant improvement during the 3 months of intervention, with an effect size indicating a moderate clinical effect. Although a similar significant result following treatment with HA could not be shown, the effect size indicated a small clinical improvement. A higher number of patients in future HA studies would serve to clarify this point
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